Life Goes On
by mangoblogs
Summary: In this Fic, it shows what would happen to everyone's life if Sam Evans never returned to Lima, Ohio. He leaves after a romantic night with Mercedes and returns years later to see Mercedes' life continued without him. Inspired by Fantasia's Truth Is.
1. Chapter 1

**So I know you're wondering what the hell is going on...lol. I am not going to stop writing the reality show fic, but this was bugging me lol. This story was bugging me so I had to write it...so I thought to myself...why not write both?**

 **Hope you all like it...tell me what you think lol**

* * *

Sam couldn't believe his eyes when it fell upon Mercedes. It had been nine years since the last time he saw her and he hated having to leave her the way he did. He'd only been back in Lima a week, returning for a job offer that most of his family didn't understand why he was adamant on taking. The moment they mentioned that the job offer was in Lima, Ohio, he immediately thought of his last summer there with Mercedes. She still looked the same, well different, but he could recognize her a mile away. She was busy checking out a melon for its freshness, while Sam stood a few feet away admiring her. She was sniffing the melon the way Sam used to take whiffs of her hair when they'd hug. He still remembered how sweet she smelled and from the expression on her face the melon was probably just as sweet. He knew he had to figure out a way to walk up to her and start up the conversation. She was the reason he was back here. She was the reason he took the art teacher job at McKinley Elementary. All he needed to tell her was "Hey Mercedes, I'm back." But instead he walked up to where she was still inspecting other melons and picked one up.

"I never know how to pick the right melon." Sam said instead hoping she'd immediately recognize him but she didn't even open her eyes as she continued to smell the melon.

"The trick is really the shape and coloring of the melon. Make sure there's no scarring on the melon, give it a tap check for hollowness then give it a good whiff. Don't whiff too much or you'll take all the juiciness out of the melon." She giggled then looked his way. "At least that's what my mama used to tell me."

"Oh yeah?" Sam asked then smiled when she squinted and tilted her head at him then her eyes widened as a smile broke out on her face.

"Oh my God, Sam? Sam Evans? Sam!" she said before jumping in his arms and wrapping her arms around him. Sam was a bit startled at first but he quickly readjusted and wrapped his arm around her too. She still smelled sweet with a hint of sweat around the sweet smell.

"Yeah…I'm back!" Sam exclaimed as he held her close. "It's really good to see you." Sam said softly as he held her tighter.

"Look at you." She said as she pulled away from him and looked him up and down. "You grew out your hair." She added as she reached up and touched the tips of his blond locks. "You got like a Nickleback thing going." She added before placing the melon in her cart and moving down aisle as Sam followed behind her.

"Nickleback?" Sam questioned. "I can accept that." Sam smiled as he watched her look back at him and smirk his way. "So what's up? How's life been going?" he asked as he looked into her cart and noticed all the healthy items within it. He finally took in what she was wearing. "You still look really good." Sam quickly complimented.

"Boy bye!" she said dismissing his compliment with a swift wave of her hand. "I'm wearing yoga pants and a tank top with sweat marks from my workout. I should've showered before I came to the market but…" she paused and shook her head as if she didn't want to get into it. "Life happens. It doesn't stop because you need to shower or take a breath or make better decisions. Life just keeps happening, you know?" she looked back at him and he wanted to ask her more. Why did she suddenly seem sad? This wasn't the place for it but he wanted to know more. He wanted to do whatever he could to make her happy, even if it were wrong for even considering it.

"Uh…yeah, I guess, but maybe we can enjoy it while it's happening."

"Yeah maybe." She whispered as she grabbed a bag of baby carrots and threw them in the cart. Sam knew this was his opportunity to ask so he quickly jumped at it.

"Or maybe we can grab so coffee at the Lima Bean…"

"Mom, can I have this?" a little girl asked as she interrupted Sam and held up a box of cookies. He immediately stepped back and placed his hands in his pocket as he took in the little girl. "Daddy said I could have it because I deserve to be happy." The little girl whined. Sam looked at the little girl that looked like the spitting image of Mercedes besides the fact that she was a lighter caramel shade. Her brown curls were disheveled but placed in a ponytail with a pink scrunchii holding it up. Her hazel eyes looked at Mercedes, pleading while her bottom pursed out. Mercedes looked at the little girl then ran her fingers over the little girl's hair before looking to Sam then back at the girl.

"Myra, I already told you…" she paused and looked at Sam again before lookin at the little girl. "We are turning a new leaf now and eating healthier."

"But Mom, dad said that just because you're on diet doesn't mean we have to suffer too!" the little girl whined just as a tall man came from behind her and placed his hand over her mouth.

"I did not say that…exactly." He said as he looked at a glaring Mercedes. Sam couldn't believe his eyes as it fell upon Noah Puckerman. Never in a million years did he ever think that Mercedes and Puck would have gotten together and had a baby.

"Noah Puckerman?" Sam asked under his breath as Puck looked up at Sam in shock. He quickly removed his hands from his daughter's face and stepped over to Sam with a smile on his face.

"Wait one God damn minute…"

"Noah!"

"Ooh Dad is cussing!"

"I can recognize those big lips anywhere!" he exclaimed before pulling Sam in for a hug. "Sam Fricking Evans get over here, man!" he held Sam close then pulled away as he looked at him. "Look at you all Nicklebacked…you done grew up."

"At least some people do." Sam heard Mercedes mumble as she looked at them. It was obvious Puck heard her too but he pretended he didn't as the smile on his face didn't disappear.

"Yeah…that's what happens in…what…nine years right?" Sam asked as he looked over at Mercedes then back at Puck.

"Hell yeah, nine years…you just disappeared after that summer. You know we needed you in glee club, right? After you left, Mercedes left the glee club and formed her own and New Directions lost."

"I didn't just disappear…"

"Well…you kind of did." Mercedes responded as she looked away from Sam. He wished he'd had time to tell her what happened. He wished he'd kept in touch with her after he left, but he wasn't sure how to explain leaving. In all honesty, he thought she'd never want to see him again.

"Look, man, you should come by some time so we can catch up with everybody." Puck said as he placed his arm around Sam's shoulder and walked off with him. "Some people stuck around in Lima, while others left and came back, like you." Puck was talking a mile a minute as Sam looked back at Mercedes talking to her daughter. She looked at Sam for a second before sighing and returning to her shopping. "Man, wait till everybody sees your back! You should come by for dinner when Babe isn't still on this health kick. She can throw down in the kitchen."

"Yeah I remember." Sam said as Puck paused and looked over at him and nodding as if he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, you and Mercedes did have a fling that summer you disappeared." Puck said as Sam glared his way. What they had was more than a fling, unfortunately no one knew about that other than Mercedes. "Man, after you left she was a wreck and old man Puck took care of things and we've been together ever since." Puck said with a smile as if he'd done something good. "Sure she had to spend Senior year pregnant but life was good for us. My pool gig turned into a big business and she stays home like the good girlfriend she is."

"You're not married?"

"Nah…marriage ain't for us. We work the way we are." Puck said as they looked back at Mercedes. "She may not look it but she's happy." Sam looked back at Mercedes and couldn't help but see the sadness that was hidden there. Mercedes wasn't meant to be a housewife. She was meant to be a star. It all made sense to him now, life happened.

* * *

Seeing Sam again was not the way she'd hope it would happen. Ever since he disappeared that summer, she'd replay bumping into him so many times. Most of the time they were dreams. Sometimes she'd watch a movie or a show then pretend that the couples on the shows were them. Sam looked better than any dream she'd had of him. He was taller, tanner, longer hair that she'd already imagined running her fingers through as they spoke. She immediately felt guilty the minute her daughter interrupted them. He came back looking fine as wine while she looked as if she'd just been ran over by a train. But he still complimented her. He still looked at her as if nine years hadn't past between them. He still looked at her as if he didn't disappear after they spent one of the most romantic nights she'd ever experience in her twenty-five years of life. Nothing Puck had ever did had ever came close to topping the night that she lost her virginity to the love of her life then watch him disappear forever.

 ** _Nine years ago_**

 _It all started with prom. A story she felt that she'd told so many damn times because it was the night that made her look at Sam differently. In all honesty, it was the night that they both looked at each other differently. Sam only decided to go with them on the prom on a budget deal because his family was newly poor and Mercedes only agreed because no one asked her. Rachel was supposed to be the third wheel in their third wheel date but when Jessie came around, she ditched them quickly. Before she knew what had happened Sam and Mercedes were left on prom alone. As Rachel performed on the stage, Sam came over and asked her hand to dance. Now, Mercedes, till this day wasn't sure if Rachel told Sam to ask her to dance but it didn't matter. She was slow dancing with him, then they were tearing up the dance floor and continued to dance the rest of the night. After prom, they walked home and stood on her porch talking for hours._

 _"Can you believe Kurt was voted prom queen? I'm not sure if we should be proud or feel upset at all this." Sam said as he sat next to her on the swing bench that was on her porch._

 _"I was proud of how he handled it! He looked great with the crown." Mercedes said as she looked over at him and smiled._

 _"You would have looked better with the crown." He said before leaning over as if he was about to kiss her. Mercedes leaned back and looked at him as if he was crazy._

 _"Sam? What are you doing?"_

 _"Uh…I…I don't know…I uh…thought we were…"_

 _"We had a good time, Sam…" she said as they both stammered with their feelings. "You made me feel like a princess tonight." She added as he smiled over at her._

 _"You really look pretty tonight, seriously. I didn't notice till you were sitting at your table playing with your corsage like a wall flower." He chuckled then stopped as he reached over and touched her hand. "You were too pretty for the wall."_

 _"Sam…" she managed to say before Sam reached over and kissed her before she could lean away again. Mercedes was in shock but she didn't move as he kissed her. He deepened the kiss after pulling her close. She slowly placed her hand on his chest and clinched to his bolo tie till it loosened and fell from around his neck. Sam moved closer to her and placed his hand behind her neck. She couldn't believe she was kissing Sam Evans. She couldn't believe his tongue was in her mouth and she was softly moaning a sound she'd never made before. The sound shocked her as she slowly pulled away from Sam and stared into his eyes._

 _"I've wanted to do that all night." He said with lopsided smile as he stared back into her eyes. Mercedes wasn't sure what to believe but she wanted to feel his lips on hers again so she leaned closer but stopped when the porch light turned on._

 _"Mercedes? Is that you outside?" Mercedes heard her father ask as she quickly jumped away from him and stood far away as if she wasn't just tongue dancing with him. Sam slowly stood and walked over to the steps._

 _"Uh yeah Dad, I just got here." Mercedes said as her front door opened and her dad stepped outside and eyed Sam suspiciously. "Just saying thanks to Sam for walking me home." She said as she smiled at Sam. She watched as he said goodbye to her father then off the steps before she followed her dad in and closed the door._

 _The following weeks before school ended they secretly dated without nobody knowing about them. Sam wanted to tell everyone but Mercedes didn't. She didn't want everyone thinking that Sam was just jumping on a new bandwagon of a girlfriend. And that summer they spent every second they could with each other. The day she lost her virginity to Sam, she was home alone while her parents were away at work when Sam came over to chill. He came with a huge duffel bag in hand and told her to close her eyes as he had something planned for her. She tried to peek a few times but he senses it and blindfolded her. She listened as he caused ruckus in her bedroom._

 _"If you make a mess in my room, Sam, I swear…" she warned him then smiled when she smelled his minty breath in her face. "Sam…why are you right in my face and not kissing me?" she sang till he finally kissed her and removed the blindfolds. He said he decided to kiss her while taking off the blindfolds because he knew she kept her eyes closed whenever they kissed. He said he always opened his eyes first just so he can admire her as she slowly opened her eyes._

 _"Hope you like it." Sam said softly against her lips as she slowly opened her eyes to candles lit all around the room and black sheets hung over the windows. She slowly inhaled the vanilla aroma as she looked around the room as Sam had scattered purple lilies all over the bed. "I couldn't afford roses." He began to explain as a tear fell from her eyes. That was when she first started to like lilies._

 _"Sam Evans…this is…" she said as her voice cracked as she turned to look back at him and smiled. Sam smiled and stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her._

 _"I know you said you wanted this moment to be special…and I can't afford a nice hotel or something…" he rambled but she stopped him as she placed her finger on his lips then inched up to kiss him._

That night she remembered they made love for the first time for what felt like hours. Mercedes remembered they fell asleep in each other's arms and when she woke up Sam was gone. He sent her a text saying that he'd never forget that day and then she never heard from him again. She felt like crap until she heard the rumor that his family had packed up and left Lima. Even with all of that she couldn't understand how he'd leave after they'd shared a moment like that. She remembered crying like an idiot in her car and Puck found her. He listened as she told him about Sam and how they had a fling. She never told them that they had sex. That was something she was too embarrassed to ever tell anyone. She lied to Puck about being a virgin and he did everything he could to take her virginity. He changed his douchy ways and was actually turning sweet. Well that was at least what she told herself when she finally decided to lay down and allow Puck to get what he wanted. She remembered thinking of Sam the entire time as Puck humped away. After he was done, he held her and said that he loved her. She mumbled it back and before she knew what had happened they were a full fledged couple and months later she was full on pregnant. At first she was embarrassed because only last year he impregnated Quinn and now here she was, a senior and pregnant.

Sam was different but she wished he'd never left her. Just one glance at him, and all of the feelings that she thought were mere dreams and fantasies came rushing back and hitting her hard. She never should have let him go. She never should have let Puck in her car that day when she was crying. She wished she would have fought harder for Sam when he left. Especially when she'd heard he left because he had no choice but to leave with his parents. She wished she'd done more than just give up and be the pregnant girlfriend of Noah Puckerman. She wished she'd follow her dreams and become a singer like she always dreamed of being. She looked at Sam as he spoke to Puck and could tell she would have been happier with him if things were different. Truth is, she wondered if maybe they still had a chance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! Two story updates in one day! Am I crazy? Bananas? Bonkers? The answer to all your questions is yes. I read all the reviews and I must say I love when you all start predicting where you think the story is going. This chapter might make some of you upset lol...I hope you stick around lmao. Anyway, once you read this chapter you will start to see how I will be writing this fic going forward. So every question you all asked in the reviews for chapter 1 will be answered as the fic goes along.**

 *****song used: Loser like me (Season 5 version) and I warped a lot of things while still making it weirdly canon.*****

* * *

It had been a week since Sam bumped into Mercedes and wrecked his plans of getting back together when Puck showed up with the daughter they shared. Sam still couldn't believe they'd hooked up. He spent hours when he got back to his house trying to do the math. If his calculations were correct, and the little girl was the age he thought, it would mean that Mercedes was with Puck right after he left. The more he thought about it the more he became angry. Sam didn't date for two years after leaving Lima and she barely even waited till the summer was completely over. He wanted to come back to find her still trying to become a singer and he'd be the key to help her. He'd checked her facebook page before returning back to Lima, unfortunately it was private. So all he was able to see was a picture she had of Aretha in her hay day and information showing she was still in Lima. He prayed she was still into singing and hadn't given up on her dreams. He'd even bought a house with a small studio in the basement so that he could write her songs like he used. He smiled as he remembered the first time he wrote a song for her and how she sang the hell out of the song.

 _It was a song that Sam wrote for the group to perform in New York for Regionals. Sam remembered that Mr. Schue had everyone write up a song for Regionals and everyone decided to go with the song Sam wrote. On the night before they performed, Sam stepped out of the hotel room with his guitar and Mercedes in tow. They wanted to be away from everyone because they were still secretly seeing each other and Sam wanted some alone time with her. He remembered how nervous he was about the group performing his song and Mercedes was the one to calm him down._

 _"Do you think we can really win with my song?" Sam asked as they sat down the bench and watched people pass by. Mercedes had her arms wrapped around his arms as she leaned her head on his shoulder and gave him a nod._

 _"You're an amazing songwriter, Sam. Trust me...we couldn't win with any other song." she said before linking her fingers with his._

 _"I'm still a bit nervous about it." he admitted as he looked down at her. She looked up at him and shook her head before pulling away from him. He almost wished he didn't say anything that would have caused her to move away. Her warmth and vanilla aroma was soothing him in ways she couldn't have understood._

 _"Sam...you're great! The song is great!" she smiled then started to sing the song the way he'd originally wrote it. "You may think that you're a zero...everyone you wanna be probably started off like you." she smiled and pointed to his guitar and continued to sing as he strummed. "You may say that you're a freak show, give it just a little time, I bet you gonna change your mind." She smiled wider when Sam started to sing as well._

 _"All of the dirt, you've been throwing my way..."_

 _"It ain't so hard to take." Mercedes smiled and sang with him as he stood in front of her and continued to sing._

 _"'Cause I know one day you'll be screaming my name." he leaned over and tilted the guitar her way till she took hold of it and stood up with him._

 _"And I'll just look away..." she sang with him._

 _"Yeah I'll just look away." Sam repeated as she sang the hook as people who were walking stopped to listen to them singing. He began walking around and staring in awe as she sang as if she were already on the stage._

 _"Just go ahead and hate on me, run your mouth, so everyone could hear. Hit me with the worst you got to knock me down, baby I don't care. Keep it up, you'll figure out, you wanna be...you wanna be...a loser like me." Once she finished the last note the people that were watching them applauded them but Sam wasn't paying them any attention as he walked over to her and kissed her. He remembered opening his eyes first as she slowly opened her own and smiled at him while they stared at each other. "Sam Evans, you're amazing, don't ever forget that."_

Sam smiled as he remembered that moment. He was so deep in thought that he didn't even hear the basement door open. Minutes later he watched as his girl friend Kitty walked down the steps then ran over to him, kissing him on the cheek before sitting down on the love seat that was down there. She quickly pulled out her cell phone, which never left her side and began swiping before holding the phone up then pursing her lips out.

"In the basement with my boyfriend in lame-o, Ohio. Hashtag Hicktown, hashtag cow tipping is life here. Hashtag, save me." she said as Sam glared at her. Sam never wanted to move back with Kitty. The move was supposed to be his way out of the relationship and back with Mercedes, but at the last minute Kitty decided she was moving with him. He knew he should have broken it off but instead he allowed her to come because he felt eventually she'd want to move back to Memphis.

"You can always move back, Kitty." Sam mumbled as he continued to fine tune his newest song. He wasn't sure if she heard him especially since she rarely listened to him. She walked over to him and threw one leg over him before straddling his lap then cocking her head to the side.

"Babe, let's go out tonight. I know there has to be something to do other then what we've been doing so far." Sam wanted to do other things as well but not with Kitty and the person he wanted to do it with was unavailable.

"Kitty, I'm kind of busy right now." Sam said as he slowly removed her hand from around his neck and tried to slide her off his lap. She stood up reluctantly and looked down as he wrote down a lyric in his book then pressed play to hear what he'd recorded earlier.

"You're wasting your time here in Lima, you know?" Kitty said before walking off then stopping at the stairs. "You'll never sell any of your songs here in this loser town. We should have went to New York." then she stormed up the stairs and slammed the door. Sam sighed and shook his head before continuing to work on his song. If Mercedes was his girl friend, she would have never said that. She believed in him and he believed in them. He wasn't going to give up on her. And the first thing he needed to do was make Kitty move back to Memphis.

* * *

Mercedes felt a bit better once she was able to make it home, shower and change her clothes as she prepared dinner. She watched as Puck played with Myra in the living room, imagining what life would have been like if Sam never left. She immediately felt guilty because she knew she wouldn't have her beautiful baby girl. Although Puck was a big kid, she would be a liar if she said he wasn't a good father to Myra. He loved that little girl and he claimed he loved Mercedes too, but she couldn't help but feel she was only there because of Myra. She knew whenever she needed to get out of her own head she had to see her besties. She placed dinner in the oven then walked over to her purse and grabbed her keys.

"Hey, where you headin' mama?" Puck said as she made her way to the door. She turned and forced a smile on her face as he scooped up a giggling Myra and flipped her over his back.

"I have to...uh...grab something at the store that I forgot. I have dinner in the oven, take it out when the bell rings. I will be back." She said as she opened the door then stopped. "And quit the horseplaying, she's a girl for crying out loud."

"But mommmm..." Myra whined as Mercedes gave her a warning stare to stop her from continuing to whine.

"I will be back!" she said once again before closing the door behind her. She quickly drove over to her best friends' apartment then walked over to the door and opened it using her spare key. Just as she walked in she stepped in on Santana and Brittany doing some heavy petting on their love seat. "Ugh, hello you whores! Get a room!"

"We did! We got an apartment and don't act like you ain't walk in on us before." Santana said as she pulled her shirt back down then handed Brittany her blouse. "You know, that key was given to you for emergency purposes, remember?"

"This is an emergency." Mercedes said before walking over and sitting right in between the two lovebirds. "Hey Britt..."

"You know, Lord Tubbington the third told me that you would have an emergency." Brittany said as she got off the couch and walked over to the extremely fat cat then picked him up and stroked him. "He's psychic just like his great-great granddaddy."

"Well did he tell you that Sam freakin' Evans would blow back into town?" Mercedes asked as Santana looked at her in confusion.

"Wait a minute...Sam Evans?" Santana asked as Mercedes just nodded. "You mean, the same Sam Evans that bolted town after we won Regionals? The same Sam Evans that caused Glee club to break up?"

"Well...no...he didn't cause New Directions to end. I kind of did that." Mercedes admitted.

"Mercedes, you left New Directions after Sam left town. So in a way, Santana is right. He is the reason that glee club broke up." Brittany responded as she placed the cat down then sat at the edge of the love seat. "I was confused for a while when he left. I wasn't sure if we were supposed to hate him because he caused us to leave ND or be grateful because Troubletones was born."

"He's not exactly the reason but he was the one that gave me courage to stand up for myself. If I hadn't we would have continued to sing second fiddle to Rachel and Blaine our senior year. And we wouldn't have kicked ass at Nationals."

"And you were hormonal and pregnant as a mug." Santana added. "It was like you spent the entire summer dry humping Sam, only to lose your virginity to Puck and get pregnant." Mercedes didn't comment as she had only told Santana about messing around with Sam but she never said that they'd had sex before he jumped town.

"It's crazy. It's like Puck has super sperm. Why didn't we ever get pregnant?" Brittany asked Santana as they both were romantically involved with Puck back in high school.

"Because what we did with Puck wouldn't have gotten us pregnant, babe." Santana said as she gave Britt's thigh a soft pat.

"Ewww...overshare."

"Don't act like you haven't gargled a bit in the last nine years." Santana said as she rolled her eyes. Mercedes shook her head because aside from Puck going down on her, they'd only had sex. She avoided oral like the plague.

"Whatever...anyway...so, back to Sam..."

"Forget Sam, Mercedes." Santana said interrupting her. "He left you without saying a word. Who cares that he's back. You've moved on. You have a beautiful daughter and Puck is sexy as hell with his own business and he might even be faithful now. Don't mess that up looking back at someone that didn't stick around. Simple as that." Except it wasn't simple at all. She fantasized about Sam many times before but now he was within reach so deciding not to look back at him was not easy.

"I agree with you babe."

"What a shocker?" Mercedes said as she rolled her eyes.

"Seriously Mercedes, do you remember how sad you were when he left town?" Britt asked. "And then when you started dating Puck you were happy again...until you started puking."

"Oh yeah the puking was disgusting." Santana said as Mercedes mind drifted back to the day she peed on the stick.

 _It was a month into the new school year when she found out. And it was then that she decided to quit the New Directions to start a new glee club. She'd grown tired of Mr. Schue pushing and haggling her during booty camp even though she told him that she felt sick to her stomach. He kept pushing her that day till she actually puked everywhere. Once she was done puking, she ran out of the auditorium in tears. Santana told her that Puck initially opted to come talk to her but she'd stopped him because she knew Mercedes was in the ladies room._

 _"Everyone but Mercedes out of the ladies room." Santana said as she held the door open. A couple of girls that were in there looked at her as if she were crazy and didn't budge. "NOW!" she shouted as the girls finally scurried out of there then her and Britt walked in. Mercedes remembered flushing the toilet and wiping the tears that ran down her face. Minutes later she saw Santana and Britt standing over the stalls with a box of tissues in Britt's hand and a pregnancy test in Santana's. She remembered collapsing against the stall door and crying harder._

 _"How the hell did I get here?"_

 _"Well you ran out of booty camp and..." Britt stopped when Santana reached over and stopped her._

 _"Look...you don't know if you're pregnant, yet. Just pee on the stick and when you're done...we will tell Mr. Schue to lay off of you a little."_

 _"No Santana! I am done with Mr. Schue. I have been talking to Ms. Corcoran and she says that I have star power. That we have star power. She said we can make a glee club with just us girls and we can shine in the front and not behind Rachel and Blaine." Mercedes said. "I am done with New Directions. I would love for you girls to come with me but if you can't I get it." she explained as Santana looked over at Brittany then back at Mercedes._

 _"Just pee on the stick and we'll deal with that later."_

 _"Whatever happens, this stays between us. I will tell Puck when I know what I plan on doing." she remembered Santana and Brittany both nodding then stepping down as she prepared herself for what she already would say she was pregnant._

 _She remembered hiding her pregnancy for a while before she fessed up to her parents then she told Puck. At first her parents were pissed and blamed it on the fact that they were so busy with work. Her mother quit her job to help Mercedes and her father allowed Puck to move in with them. At first Puck slept on the couch but then her mother set up the basement for them so that Myra would be near if she cried at night. The day Myra was born, her father held Myra and beamed with pride._

 _"She has green eyes like your grandmother did." he said as Mercedes smiled, remembering how when she was younger she used to wish she had her grandmother's green eyes. She even bargained with God to at least give her light brown eyes like her father had but of course that never happened. Of course, Myra's eye color changed as she got older but her father still continued to say that she was my grandmother reincarnated. He told the story to anyone that would listen as they cooed at the baby while Puck just stared at her in silence. Once everyone was gone she decided to see what was bothering him._

 _"Isn't she the prettiest thing?" she asked as she stepped over to where he stood still staring as Myra reached for his fingers._

 _"She looks just like you and your dad...just white." he muttered softly. "She doesn't look anything like me."_

 _"Noah..."_

 _"Beth looked exactly like Quinn...and now...my gene's are weak, mama." Puck said as he looked over at Mercedes. She smiled and leaned on him as they stared at the baby in silence for a minute then ran his fingers over the label that had for the baby. "Samyra Norah Jones." he said it a couple times before smiling her way. "I really like that name."_

Mercedes knew he wanted the baby to have his last name but they weren't married and she just couldn't do it. She wondered if he would ever ask her why she chose that name but was happy that he didn't. Naming your child after an ex was just not something people did but Mercedes had fantasize about having children with Sam so many times that she'd already had the names for every child she'd ever have. And to honor Puck she gave her a middle name inspired by Noah. And till this day he always called her Norah or Myra instead of Samyra. And she prayed that Sam never found out her real first name because he would know that she had never gotten over him as she pretended she did. And as Santana pointed out she needed to do whatever she could not to mess things up trying to run back into Sam's arms again.


	3. Chapter 3

Mercedes woke up at what felt like the butt crack of dawn, running around the house to get Myra ready for school. It was her first day in the third grade and she was so excited about it that she kept Mercedes up till real late preparing for the day. She'd placed Myra's hair in Bantu knots the night before and now she was up taking them down so that Myra's hair would produce a volume full of brown tinted curls that fell an inch past her shoulders. She was still half asleep, head knocking every so often as Mercedes finished fluffing up her hair.

"Come on, baby, you gotta get up. You don't wanna miss the bus on your first day." Mercedes used to drop her off to school but Myra begged to ride the bus this year so she decided to let her do it. "Your uniform is on the bed." She said as she watched Myra disappear into the bathroom and shut the door before heading to the bedroom to wake up Noah. "Babe, you can't keep hitting snooze. You gotta beat traffic." she said then stopped when she realized Puck was just walking out of the bathroom dressed and ready for work. "Oh you're up?"

"Yeah, I don't know if I told you but I am interviewing some people for the secretary position today. Business has grown since a lot of folks are starting to get indoor pools."

"Well I guess that's a good thing."Mercedes said with a smile. When Puck graduated their senior year he made the pool business his top priority. Back then he was just doing yard work and cleaning a two pools but since then he'd ventured out of the city and the business just grew. She used to help him with scheduling but eventually he'd started handling it all on his own. She was proud of him because so many people told him he needed a real job but he created one for himself. "You know I can always come work as the secretary and keep the money at home?" she volunteered as she grabbed his tie then walked over to him to tie it up for him. "We can work together like we used to when you first started expanding."

"Uh babe, you know how I feel about you working." he said as he looked down at her. "What if Myra needs you or if I have a package delivered here? Who's going to sign for it if you're at Puckerman's answering phones and getting my coffee?"

"Is that what she'll be doing?" Mercedes asked as she frowned and tightened up the tie. He wrapped his arms around her and smirked down at her.

"No need to be jealous, mama and what makes you think I'll be hiring a chick?"

"'Cause you're Noah Puckerman. Do I need to remind you of the many MILFS around Lima I've had to cuss out 'cause they came at me sideways? All because you don't know how to control yourself." Mercedes said as she glared at him and pushed him away slightly.

"I never did anything with those women, they just were envious that you got The Saw every night while they had to recharge their batteries at each night." Puck said then pulled her closer to him. "Don't worry, I only have eyes for one MILF."

"Whatever." she replied before rolling her eyes then allowing him to kiss her lips "Have a good day at work."

"I hope so...where's Nora, I wanna say goodbye before I leave." he said just as Myra appeared in the doorway with a smile on her face. "There goes my third grader. Give daddy a hug."

"Have a good day at work, daddy." he smiled as she wrapped her arms around him then placed a kiss on his cheek. Mercedes watched the two interact and couldn't help but to smile.

"Make sure you be like mama at school and not like daddy." Puck added before tickling her. "I'll see you guys later today." and with that he was out the door. Mercedes sighed as she heard her belly rumble knowing she should have made breakfast but decided after putting Myra on the bus she'd drive over to the Lima bean for some coffee before heading to the gym.

"Come on, Myra, grab your book bag."

* * *

Sam was ready for his first day as an art teacher at Lima Elementary. It wasn't much but he loved art and he loved kids. It was a no brainer for him, especially since it was where Mercedes lived. Most of the money he made came from something that he did when he first moved back to Memphis. He did everything he had to do to save money and make it back to Lima. He had another reason for being there and his music was tied to that reason as well. He smiled just as his eyes fell upon that reason as he watched her purchase a latte and a chocolate muffin. Before heading off to work he'd stop by the Lima Bean for a cup of joe as well and he was now happy that he did.

"Can you make that two?" Sam said as he dropped a twenty on the counter in front of her. The cashier took the twenty then smiled at Mercedes as she turned to Sam. "Chocolate Mocha Latte with a double chocolate muffin, right?" he asked the cashier but kept his green eyes on Mercedes.

"Actually, I'm just getting a green tea and a Fiber-one bar." Mercedes said as she showed him the bar she had in hand then turned to the cashier and smiled. "Make him his latte and I'll stick to my tea, thank you."

"Green tea? Thought you were forever my chocolate mocha latte girl?" Sam asked as the cashier disappeared to make his latte and grab her tea.

"Things change." she responded softly as she pulled her shirt down to cover her midsection. "You know after seven years pass, I don't have the privilege of blaming the baby for all the baby fat." she added before giggling. Sam looked down at what she was wearing and realized she was in her workout attire yet again.

"You look good enough for a double chocolate muffin, Mercedes." he said as she shook her head in denial as the cashier returned with her tea and his latte and muffin. "Remember how we'd dip the muffins in the latte and just watch it melt in it."

"Sam, just stop." she said as they walked out of the cafe together. "I'm on a diet."

"If you want I can work out with you. I have some great routines that will get you to tone up and..."

"I can't. I like to work out alone and then usually I go chill with Santana and Brittany."

"Oh they're still around?"

"Yeah, they're my besties. We sometimes still sing together at the Sugar Shack on Saturday nights. We'll be there this Saturday as the Troubletones." She smiled. Sam could tell that she was still her happiest when she was singing. He knew this was his opportunity to jump in and offer up his services.

"That's cool, you know I still write songs." Sam smiled then reached into his bag and pulled out a CD before handing it to her. She stared at the CD without saying a word. "I wrote these songs for you a while back. I knew if I came back we could get into the small studio that I have and work together on something like we used..."

"Sam," Mercedes said as she turned to place her hand on his chest and stopped him. "What are you doing?" she asked as she looked into his eyes. Sam wanted to tell her that he was trying to win her back but he knew that would be a waste. "I'm with Noah, we have a kid together and we're building a family." she continued. Sam wasn't sure if she was explaining that to him or to herself but he nodded as she spoke. "What we had is in the past. I have a new life now."

"I...uh...I was just trying to help you not give up on your dreams. We promised each other we would let the other give up on our dreams, remember?"

"I also remember that you disappeared after we..." she paused as she got choked up and lowered her voice. "If you left me and I didn't hear a word from you. I had to hear from everyone else that your family high tailed it out of here, but not a word from you. That's what I remember."

"Mercedes, I can explain." Sam said as he felt how much he'd hurt her.

"Sam, it's been years since you left. Years since I really wanted to hear you explain what happened. Years since I have thought of that night and...Puck might not be the best man in Lima but he's still here. He stuck around and is a great dad to Myra. I refuse to let you ruin that with whatever it is you thought this..." she pointed between them. "...could be." and with that she turned and left with the CD he'd given her in hand.

* * *

 _Sam left Mercedes room with a kiss on the forehead before gathering his things. He grabbed his cellphone and noticed that it wasn't charging the whole time. He looked around for the charger then heard her parents downstairs calling out her name. In a panic, he quickly went out her window and jogged his way back to the motel. The entire time that he ran he smiled. He was the happiest he'd ever been since they moved to Lima. He didn't care that his family was so poor that they all had to chip in to work just to afford the Motel and food. He didn't care that some nights he didn't eat just so that his_ _siblings would have something to eat while his parents worked. All he cared about was that he'd just had the best night and the best summer with Mercedes. He couldn't wait to see what else they'd share together. He was deep in thought and enjoying it when he noticed his parents near their families station wagon. Then he noticed all of their items were on the curb and his mother was placing them in the car._

 _"Sam...where have you been? We've been calling you all night." his mother said as his father appeared from behind the car with a couple items in hand._

 _"I...uh...I was at Finn's house but my phone died." Sam lied. They didn't know that Sam and Mercedes was dating either as they usually met up at her place but he had all plans of introducing her before the summer was over. But from the looks of it it was not going to happen. "What's going on? Did we find a house?"_

 _"No, son. We got put out." his father explained looking embarrassed. "I didn't get paid last night and we don't have enough money for the weekly fee. The insurance on the car was due and your mother paid that..."_

 _"I didn't know that your dad hadn't paid the weekly rent yet." she explained as tears fell from her eyes. "Now we have to leave Lima and head back to Memphis."_

 _"Wait...no...we can't leave!" Sam exclaimed in panic mode as he tried to find his parents cellphones. "Where are your cellphones?" he asked as he looked through his mother's bag._

 _"Sam, quit wasting time and grab some of the things on the curb so that we can leave." his father said as he wrapped his arms around his mother consoling her. "And we had to pawn the cellphone so that we'd have enough for gas."_

 _"What?" Sam knew he should be more focused on the fact that his family was dealing with their emergency but his mind was on Mercedes. He needed to tell her what happened. He needed to tell her that he loved her that he would be back for her. "I gotta make a call." he said as he ran to the office leaving his parents looking at him as if he was crazy. He noticed the man behind the counter as he read a magazine and ignored him as Sam tried to get his attention. "Excuse me, uh, can I use your phone? I have an emergency."_

 _"Use the payphone at the corner."_

 _"A payphone?" Sam asked wondering where the hell was he supposed to find a payphone or change to even use one. "I don't have any change."_

 _"Not my problem."_

 _"Please, can I just make one phone call." Sam begged then tried to turn on his phone to find Mercedes' number. He pressed the button but it only flickered before turning right back off. Either way, the guy behind the counter didn't care and wasn't even thinking about letting him use the phone anyway. "Man forget it." Sam said as he left to see his parents already had everything in the car and was pulling up to him._

 _"Come on, Sam, we have to go and uh...your mother has something she wants to ask you something." his father said as Sam reluctantly got into the car and slammed the door. He was beyond pissed and felt as if he needed to run by Mercedes' and tell her to runaway with him but they were merely seventeen. How was he going to support her when he couldn't even help his family pay a Motel bill._

 _"Sammy, we have to sell your cellphone too."_

 _"What? No! We can't! I haven't even told any of my friends that we're leaving."_

 _"You can call them when we get to Memphis." his mother said turning to him. "Look, Sammy, I feel horrible asking you to do this. You've already sacrificed so much but your family needs you and the kids are hungry." his mother explained. Sam stared into her eyes and could see that she was hurting and sighed before handing away his cellphone. "We'll make this up to you, Sammy. We promise." his mother said as she turned around in her seat._

 _Sam stared out the window they drove passed a sign that said that they were leaving Lima and felt his life drain from him. He swore no matter what he'd do he would come back to Lima for Mercedes. A few weeks into Memphis, Sam stared at Mercedes Facebook paged and prepared to send her a message that explained everything he'd been through. Living at his grandparents was almost as bad as living in prison as they had no TV, no computer and even had a freaking rotary phone that couldn't understand how people used those still. He sat in the library staring at the carefully written out message he wrote telling her that he would be back for her after he graduated. He explain that he was going to find a job and save til he could get a studio so they could work on their dreams together. He never wanted to give up on her or their dreams._

 _"Here goes nothing." he said before clicking send a couple times and realizing it wasn't going nowhere. He opened another tab and opened up Facebook again and tried to click on her profile but it kept saying it couldn't connect to the server. He tried to click on another person page and it loaded with no issues. "She blocked me?" Sam couldn't believe that she actually blocked him but he didn't blame her. He waited too long and now she was mad at him or even over him. He knew he needed to hurry up and make some money to get back to Mercedes. And he committed the entire day on trying to find a job, even went as far as getting a fake ID to get a job as a bartender._

 _"May we help you?" the blonde woman asked as he walked inside of the club that he knew dubbed as a strip joint four nights a week. He'd heard that the blonde woman went by the name of Cassie and was known to hire anything that walked through the door if it looked good. And Sam worked hard on his abs so he was ready to get the job and start saving money._

 _"I, uh, want to apply for the bar-tending job. I can tend bars and get great tips." Sam said as he smiled at her before handing her his application. She looked at the application barely then gave him a quick glance over before smiling back at him herself._

 _"How old are you?" she asked although with his baby face he barely looked sixteen._

 _"Says right here, I am twenty one." Sam smiled and handed the ID to her. She looked at the ID and shook her head before turning._

 _"Follow me. I have something better for you." she said instead as he fell in step with her. "How's your dancing?"  
_

* * *

Sam sighed as he sat in his classroom thinking of how Mercedes left that morning. His students were due to come in within a few minutes but he couldn't get his mind off of her. How was he supposed to explain why it took him longer to return to her like he planned. Why he never tried to contact her even though she blocked him on Facebook, he still knew her email he could have written her there. But he didn't. He was afraid of what she'd think of him when he finally told her what he'd been up to. How he'd saved money to get back to her and build his studio. Would she understand why he stripped to help his family? Would she believe him if he told her that he never stopped loving her? "Did she stop loving me and actually fall in love with Puck?" Sam asked just as the bell ringed and a line of kids came walking into his class in a single file line. He watched as they all walked in and sat in there seats then noticed a curly haired girl staring at him from the far in of the classroom. He smiled at her when he realized it was Mercedes and Puck's daughter.

"You look familiar." Myra said as she tried to remember where she knew him from. Sam smiled as he still couldn't believe how much she looked like Mercedes.

"Yeah, you were with your mother at the groceries."

"You're my art teacher?"

"Yup, do you like art class?" Sam asked as he stood to write his name on the board then turned to grab the clipboard with each students name on the list so that he could do attendance.

"Yeah, it's my favorite. I draw on everything, see." she said with a smile as she showed him her notebook that was full of drawings he couldn't believe she'd drawn at her age.

"You did these?" Sam asked in shock as she smirked at him and exposed really deep dimples. "You're really good. Do you mind if I keep this for a second and look some more?"

"No problem, Mr. Evans."Myra said with a smile as she walked back to her seat and started talking to her friends. Sam stared at the little girl and

"If you're here, just say present, okay?" he asked before smiling as he looked down at the list and began calling out the students name. "Aaron Bland? Lila Costa? Brianna Campbell?" he continued to read out the names and look up as they shouted out they were present. He continued till he reached a name that caused him to stop and look up at the little girl. "Samyra Jones?" She looked at him and smiled widely before saying present. He took a breath and continued but he now knew that Mercedes still loved him. She may be with Puckerman but she was still in love with Sam, so much so that she named their child after him. Seeing that gave Sam all that he needed to remind him that he shouldn't give up on Mercedes and he was not giving up on them.

* * *

 **Soooo...thanks for reading lol. I appreciate the reviews and seeing how you all feel about Samcedes in this story. There is no excuse for what Sam did...but will that keep Samcedes apart? Is Puck a better option for Mercedes because he's a good provider or is Sam a better option because he won't let her give up on her dreams?**

 **Is Sam the baby daddy or is Puck? Does Mercedes know and she's just keep that from both men because she never thought she'd see Sam again?**

 **As some of you may notice we get a glimpse in the past in each chapter till we find out what exactly happened to both**

 **Stay tuned...**


	4. Chapter 4

Mercedes sat inside of her car staring at the CD case that Sam gave her a few days ago. On the cover, Sam had drawn a picture of the two of them as teens, kissing under the water. The drawing alone was all she needed to see to cause a tear to run down her face. She missed him and she hated him. She hated that he made her think of that night every time she looked at the picture. And she still couldn't get the courage to actually play the CD out of fear of what it would make her do. Instead, every day she kept it in her purse and after dropping Myra to the bus stop she'd drive to the Lima Bean with hopes of running into him again. She was either there too early or he was coming there later than she thought to grab his chocolate latte. Whatever the case, she kept telling herself that it was God's way of saying to let Sam go. She opened the case and put the CD in as she began to pull out of the driveway and head home.

"Hey, Mercedes, it's Sam." The intro said. She kept her eyes on the road and drove with no intent of going straight home. She wanted to listen to as much as she could. "If you're listening to this, that means I made it back to you. Hope you're still single because what I'm about to say might make things awkward." he chuckled. "I want you to know that I haven't forgot about what I said by the lake. I meant every word. I still love you and I still have plans for us to have a future together. And everything I am doing now..." he paused for a minute before he continued. "...it will all be worth it when I see you again."

"Well, Sam Evans, you saw me...now what?" Mercedes asked out loud as if he could respond.

"These are all songs I have written for you and I can't wait to hear you sing them but first I want to sing something that you might remember. Week one." she glared over at the CD as if she could see his face as he strummed his guitar. She smiled as he began to sing Mariah Carey's _Always Be My Baby_ remembering the first time she sang that to him. She was minutes away from home when her cellphone rang displaying Kurt Hummel on the screen. He was exactly who she needed to talk to at that moment.

"What a shocker, you remember my number." she said dryly into the phone as she pulled into her driveway.

"The phone works both ways, Mercedes." Kurt quickly retorted."Where's my God Daughter?"

"It's ten in the morning, Kurt. She's in school."

"I knew that. Just making sure."

"Yeah okay, sure." Mercedes responded giggling. "So, are you calling to arrange a pick up this Saturday? You know we're performing at the Sugar Shack this weekend. Everyone's going to be there." she sang, hoping that he would say that he was coming. He'd been so busy lately with his new line of petticoats releasing across the globe, that she hadn't seen him in almost a year.

"I wish, babe, you know I need a vacay. They just have me everywhere these days that I barely even have time to see Blaine either."

"Who cares about Blaine! I haven't seen you in a year. Some bestie, you are!"

"Oh wait, I'm your bestie again? I thought Santana was your bestie now."

"Oh wait, I forgot you traded me in for second rate singer Rachel Berry our senior year." Mercedes responded.

"Not this crap again, Mercedes. We've been best friends since sophomore year." Kurt said as he sighed. "You know why I became close to Rachel. We were both trying out for NYADA and then we ended up living together. It only made us grow closer. Trust me, HummelBerry is nothing compared to KurtCedes!" Mercedes knew that already but she loved hearing him say it.

"Well, Santana was there for me during my pregnancy and Myra's first few years. So we grew closer too." she replied anyway just to make him feel bad about not being there, even though she knew he had to go to NYADA.

"Then I guess that's why you told her about Sam Evans coming back to Lima and not me, huh?" Kurt asked.

"Oh yeah...I bumped into him the other day. I think he's a teacher or something now or whatever." Mercedes said as she tried her best to pretend as if she was over Sam, but she knew Kurt knew better.

"And...did you guys run into each other's arms? Profess your undying love?" Kurt asked as he gushed over the phone. "Oh how I hate how successful my life is right now. I'm missing everything." he whined.

"Your not missing anything. Nothing happened. We said hi, Puck said hi...he kinda met Myra...and he's her art teacher now I think. Trust me..." she paused as she looked at the CD cover and sighed. "You're not missing a thing."

"Wait, Puck saw him too? Did he notice the obvious sexual tension between the two of you?" Kurt asked ignoring the fact that Mercedes was pretending she was over Sam. "And you can drop the act. This is me, your bestie, you're talking to, okay. I was the one you called when Sam first told you that he loved you, remember?"

"Yeah." she said softly as she looked at the case and felt herself going right down memory lane.

 _Mercedes remembered Sam worked really hard to save up for what he called their first official date. It was nothing special but he was still helping his family with the bills and his siblings so it was a lot to him. And even though Mercedes offered to pay for most of their dates, Sam wanted to pay for everything that day. He even picked her up in his father's station wagon and told her that all she had to do was relax and enjoy the date. He took her to the local fair and they rode on every ride that they could and shared a funnel cake because he'd run out of money by then. He kept apologizing but she told him that she didn't care she was just happy to be with him._

 _"I have one more place that I want to take you before we head home, okay?" he asked as they walked hand and hand towards the car._

 _"Sure." she smiled before leaning into him then stepping back as she remembered asking him: "Is it where you take all your girls?" with a smile on her face._

 _"No, It's where I go to write songs." Sam responded as he opened the door for her and watched as she slipped in then leaned over to push open his door for him. He closed the door and ran to the driver side and got in before looking at her. "Why do you always do that?"_

 _"Because that's what we do." she replied as she strapped her seat belt on. "You open doors for me and I open doors for you." she remembered saying to him. She felt him staring at her for a few lingering seconds before he nodded and started the car. A few minutes later they arrived at the lake that wasn't too far from where Mercedes lived. They walked towards the lake and stood silently gazing at the glistening water as the full moon shined on its surface._

 _"We should jump in." Sam said out of nowhere causing Mercedes to look over at him as if he'd lost his mind. He looked over at her and smiled before repeating himself. "We should jump in together."_

 _"Are you insane?" she asked before shaking her head as she laughed her head off. He looked back at the water and then looked at her laughing and shook his head before removing his shirt. "Sam, what are you doing?"_

 _"Taking off my clothes." he said as he tossed his shirt to the ground then tried to pull off his boots then fell back after losing his balance. "Ooh, that's going to hurt." Sam winced then laughed as Mercedes fell into laughter with him. "Are you going to jump in with all your clothes on?"_

 _"Sam, I'm not jumping in that water." she replied shaking her head. "Do you know how much this weave cost?" she asked jokingly but Sam stopped what he was doing as he looked as if he was trying to guess the cost. "Sam, I'm joking."_

 _"I'll pay for whatever you need to fix it." Sam responded in all seriousness._

 _"Sam...it's not that serious. You have far more important things that you need to take care of."_

 _"You're one of those important things." he responded without any afterthought. Mercedes looked out to the water then back down at Sam realizing that he was serious about her jumping in the water with him. She ran her fingers through her hair then placed both sides in a braid before peeling off her boots._

 _"I feel I'm going to regret this." she said as Sam slowly began to smile and pulled down his pants exposing his boxers underneath. Mercedes sighed and removed her shirt and nervously looked over at Sam as he pretended not to look at her pulling down her jeans. She had never been this naked in front of him before and knew she needed to just jump into the water before her nerves got the best of her._

 _"Do you know how to swim?"_

 _"Boy bye! Eat my dust!" she shouted before running towards the lake. She looked behind her and laughed as Sam followed behind her. They both reached the edge of the water and jumped in at the same time. Once they were under the water, Mercedes tried to open her eyes and see where Sam was but with just the moon's light it was hard for her to find him. She waved her hands around in panic then calmed down when he intertwined his fingers with hers. She turned towards him and smiled when he pulled her near him and kissed her till they floated to the surface of the water._

 _They continued to play in the lake for what felt like hours before getting out and laying on the grass next to each other. Every few minutes they would look over at each other and share a kiss that she had to pry herself from letting go further than she was ready for. Sam was never one to shy away from seeing how far Mercedes would let his hands roam. She'd thought of going there with him but she wasn't sure they were ready for that. So each time his hands would try to go under her bra she'd slowly pull his hands away._

 _"So, I'm guessing you recently watched Always Be My Baby?" she asked as she placed her head on his chest and stared at the moon._

 _"Is that a movie?" he asked causing Mercedes to sit up quickly and look his way in shock. "What? Is it a show or something?"_

 _"Oh hell to the no, Sam! If you're going to be my boyfriend you're going to have to know all of Mariah Carey's greatest hits." Mercedes joked._

 _"I'll check out her YouTube page the minute I get home." Sam responded. "What is so special about that song though?"_

 _"Seriously?" she asked then shook her head before looking at him and smiling. "You'll always be a part of me and I'm part of you indefinitely, boy don't you know you can't escape me...oooh darling 'cause you'll always be my baby..." she sang with a smile on her face as Sam stared at her lovingly. "It's one of my favorite songs of hers. In the video there's a boy and girl that jump into a lake together and share a kiss like we did. I thought you took the idea from there."_

 _"I've never seen that video but I can see why you like it." he smiled and nodded before looking out into the lake. "One day we'll write a song that defines us but for now that song can be our song." Mercedes looked at him and smiled before leaning back into his arms. "Can you promise me something?"_

 _"What's that?"_

 _"Promise me, that you won't ever give up on that talent of yours." he said then waited till she nodded her head. "And I'll promise you that I won't give up on mine either. I open your door and you open mine, right? If one of us ever lose sight of our doors we have to help the other open it back up, okay?"_

 _"Sam..."_

 _"I'm serious." Sam said and watched as she sat up and looked over at him._

 _"Trust me, Sam, I would never give up on singing and I wouldn't make it far without you producing my first album." she smiled and leaned over to kiss his lips. "We got this, babe. Don't worry." Mercedes said before sitting back up._ _"Anyway, it's getting late, I think we should head back." Mercedes remembered saying as she reached for her shirt before placing it on._

 _"Uh, yeah, sure." he said as he grabbed his own shirt and placed it on. He watched as she ringed the excess water out of her hair then sighed. "So how much does that cost?"_

 _"Sam...seriously...I was only joking."_

 _"Okay and I was serious." Sam responded as he grabbed his jeans and watched as she slipped into her own. "Mercedes, I love you and if it'll cost me fifty bucks to get your hair..."_

 _"What did you say?" Mercedes asked in shock as she stopped what she was doing and looked his way. Sam stopped what he was doing and looked at her as if he was afraid that he'd said something wrong._

 _"I was saying that I don't mind spending a few bucks to treat my lady right."_

 _"First off Sam, weave like this..." she said as she held up a few strands. "Cost more than a few bucks, try a few hundred..."_

 _"Wait...are you serious?"_

 _"Secondly, I was talking about the other thing you said." she ignored the fact that he looked so cute when he was confused._

 _"You mean, when I said I loved you?" he asked as if it were something he said all the time._

 _"Yeah...I...uh..." she stepped closer to him and looked him in the eyes to see if he meant to say it or if it slipped out by mistake. "You never said that before." Sam looked as if he was trying to remember if he had then a smile crept on the corner of his lips when it dawned on him._

 _"Oh, well, yeah...I do love you. Besides my family, you're all I ever think about and care about." he confessed. "You don't have to say it back to me, if you're not there yet. My heart tends to move faster than everyone else's." he smiled when she wrapped her arms around him. She knew that he wanted to hear her say it back but she didn't say it then. And as usually, he took her silence and assumed he needed to explain himself more. "I know I don't have the best dating record but I feel this time, my heart got it right. Everything that's happened to me in my life was leading me to be right here with you. I promise my heart will always be yours." She remembered kissing him to calm his nerves and holding his hand the entire drive back to her house. He walked her to door and kissed her goodnight before walking back to his car. Mercedes watched as he slowly walked to his car before she closed her door and ran after him._

 _"Sam..." she said causing him to turn and smile at her. She felt as if her heart was ready to leap out of her chest as she tried to find the courage to tell him how she felt._

 _"Yes?"_

 _"I love you too." she finally said before kissing him again then slowly stepped backwards to her door._

 _"I already knew." Sam smirked as one of her brows hiked up._

 _"And how did you know?"_

 _"Your eyes tell me everything I ever want to know." he responded before jumping into the wagon and driving away. Mercedes remembered running inside and calling Kurt to tell him everything. At that time, he was the only one that knew they were dating. He'd caught them kissing after the New York trip at the Lima Bean and promise to keep it a secret. Since Kurt was her best friend she told him everything except that she'd lost her virginity to Sam. That was still something that only her and Sam knew._

"So, since the love your life is back, you're going to get back together, right?" Kurt said causing Mercedes to come back to the present.

"I can't Kurt. Sam and I had a nice little summer fling years ago. He held my heart then but I've moved and I'm with Puck now... we are not getting back together." Mercedes said more to herself then to Kurt as she reached over and opened her glove compartment and placed the CD cover inside.

"You can believe that if you want...but you know you and Sam had more than a fling."

"I have a family, now, Kurt. I have to stay with Puck. This is the life I was meant to have."

"If Sam never left, do you really think you would be where you are now? A housewife? You're my best friend, Mercedes, I know you want more. You deserve more." Mercedes could hear that Kurt truly believed that she was destined for more but Mercedes had lost sight of that. She even forgot the promise Sam had made her. After he left she replayed him saying that over and over then became enraged at the fact that she actually believed him. But, here he was, years later and he never gave up on her music. She wished she knew why he took so long to come back. Why didn't he come back for her? And if he did come back, would their love work? Would they have gotten married and had kids together. She wondered what a child with Sam would have looked like before shaking her head in shame.

"If Sam never left or came back earlier, who knows where I'd be. Or where we'd be. We might not have lasted either. But I am grateful for my life right now. I have a beautiful daughter with Puck and she means the world to me."

"Look, I am not saying you regret Myra. I am just saying that you can be a mother and have the life you were meant to have. You are so talented Mercedes. Don't let Puck hold your spotlight away from you." Kurt said then sighed knowing that Mercedes was as stubborn as she was bullheaded. "Look, even if you don't get back with Sam romantically. At least look into making music with him again. You both always wrote the best songs. Can you at least think about that?"

"Yeah..." Mercedes responded. "Anyway, I'm going to let you get back to being so successful, okay."

"Okay love, kiss my baby for me." Kurt said before hanging up. Mercedes stared out the window of her car and wondered if she could actually make it work. She decided she'd talk it over with Puck to see if he'd support her trying to sing professionally after Troubletones performance Saturday. Hopefully if he was around other people from the glee club he'd listen to reason.

* * *

 **Hey you guys thank you for returning to read this crazy fic of mine. Next Chapter you will some Glee alumni and the Troubletones will perform at the Sugar Shack. Many of you want to know why Puck doesn't want Mercedes to work or sing like she always planned, that will be revealed soon. He has his reason ( not a good reason...just a reason period)**

 **Right now Mercedes seems a bit depressed but stay with me things will change soon. Let me know what you think of my jab at HummelBerry lol.**


	5. Chapter 5

Sam tried to focus on the class but with Samyra in the class it was a bit hard not to think of Mercedes. Especially since he was starting to get closer to her with every class. Sam noticed that depending on what she wore her eyes looked a shade of green. It was almost exactly what he thought his daughter with Mercedes would have looked like if they had a child together. But he had to get over it because she was with Puck and they had a child together.

"Mr. Evans, remember the drawing you showed me on Tuesday?" Samyra asked causing Sam to jump out of his thoughts. He smiled at the little girl that looked like a lighter version of Mercedes and waited for her to continue after he nodded. He'd shown her his drawing collection and she'd begged him to let her keep one of them, but Sam told her to draw something better. "I worked on what you said and I came up with this." she smiled proudly before handing him her portfolio. Sam took the booklet and flipped through the pages in awe. She had took on his challenge and surpassed his own.

"Wow, Samyra, these are amazing. You did these in just three days?" he asked as flipped through the pages and notices how good they were.

"Yeah, I was inspired." she smiled proudly.

"These are really great but I did notice a trend..."

"I was hoping you didn't notice." she frowned for a second at the fact that Sam noticed that she always hid her characters hands in the picture.

"Look these are great and you need to be proud but you didn't get here over night. If you keep practicing to draw what you're struggling with you will get better, don't you think?" he asked as he lifted her chin then smiled. "How about a new challenge for you?" he asked as he pulled out his own portfolio and handed her one of his early drawings that he'd created. They were of Mercedes but he knew Samyra wouldn't make the connection. "Keep this and challenge yourself to draw more hands." she took the drawing from Sam and stared at the picture like it was from Picasso himself.

"Sure thing, Mr. Evans." she smiled before skipping back to her seat then showing it to her friends at their desk as they did their work. He really wished he'd never left Lima. His living caused him to miss out on all the greatest things and relationships. Then, just as he thought that his phone rang and Puck's name appeared on the screen.

"Alright class, finish up your work. I will be right outside the door." he said before getting up and stepping out the door. Once he was outside of the classroom he swiped to answer the call. "Puckerman, wassup?"

"Bro, I told everyone that you were back so we're all going to the Sugar Shack. Tell me you can make it?" Puck asked causing Sam to remember that Mercedes mentioned that she'd be performing that night. It had been so long since he last saw her perform. He couldn't wait to see her on a stage again but he wasn't too excited about seeing her there with Puck. He wasn't ready to see them as a couple again.

"Uh...I don't know. I had plans to be in the studio working on some music."

"Studio? You're still writing music?"

"Uh...yeah." he replied just as another call started coming in. "But, let me get back to you on all that I have another call coming in." he replied then swiped before Puck could even respond. It was Kitty. He hadn't found a way to get her out of his life yet and things were getting harder now that she found a job. "Kitty, I'm at work. Can't talk." he responded between gritted teeth.

"Oh, you're just an art teacher to a bunch of snotty nose hicktown kids. They won't miss you." she replied dismissively. "I was just calling to see if you had any plans for us because I was just invited to a club but I wanted to check with my hubby first."

"I'm not your hubby...and I don't care what you do." he responded honestly. "I'll most likely be in the studio all weekend as usual." he explained for no reason at all. He was growing tired of Kitty and since they'd been there he hadn't shared a bed with her yet she still felt the urge to call him hubby.

"Why don't you come..."

"I gotta go, Kitty." He quickly hung up the phone and sighed as he stared at his phone wishing he wasn't a coward like his father. Always shying away from being straight forward and breaking things off with Kitty. They needed to have that conversation before it bit him in the ass later. And just as the thought crossed his mind he received a Facebook call from Kurt Hummel of all people. Why was everyone calling him as if he didn't have a job. "Uh...Kurt?" he swiped to answer as Kurt's face took over his phone's screen. He had oversized shades on and a scarf that looked more like a blanket than anything.

"Hey Sam, I am going to make this quick because I have a meeting to go to."

"Yeah, I'm at work and I left my class unattended."

"You're in school? Thought you'd be a song writer or something by now." Kurt said as Sam watched him rush through what looked like a crowded hallway.

"No...I'm a teacher for..."

"That's great Sam! I am happy you're back in Lima but as you can tell I don't have to play catch up." he said interrupting Sam. "I know you saw Mercedes, right?" he sang and a bright smile spread across his face. Sam couldn't help the smile that tugged the side of his lips as well as he remembered bumping into Mercedes.

"Uh...yeah...and Puckerman...and their daughter." Sam stated as Kurt came to a halting stop and removed his oversized shades.

"Ugh, don't get me started on that." he responded as if it annoyed him more that she was with Puckerman than it annoyed Sam. "I want to give you the riot act about leaving Mercedes the way you did but I have a bigger fish to fry." Sam was a bit shocked that Kurt knew about them. From what it looked like everyone seemed to think they only chilled. "Yeah I know you two were in love. No need to look shocked. Mercedes was and is and will always be my best friend."

"Uh..."

"I know you came back to win her heart, right?" Kurt asked with hope in his eyes. Sam looked in on his class and smiled as he watched Samyra talking to the class.

"Yeah...but she's with Puck. She's moved on."

"Stop it, Sam! She loves you. She never stopped. Circumstances made her get with Puck but she never stopped loving you. You just have to get her back there and if not that...at least help her launch her singing career. Don't let her give up." he explained before putting his shades back on. "You owe her that much. Toodles!" and with that he hung up the phone. He sighed knowing that Kurt was right and that he knew exactly what he had to do. He had to show up at the Sugar Shack and remind her that she was meant to be a star.

* * *

The next day Mercedes dropped off Myra at her parents house for the night and then made her way over to Santana and Brit's before heading to the Shack. They needed to go over what their set list was going to be for the night. They usually just performed their old set list from Glee but they wanted to try something new that night. Santana selected En Vogue's _Giving Him Something He Can Feel_. She was always picking songs where they can be as seductive to the crowd and Brittany always followed through with the dance moves.

"You girls ready?" Mercedes asked as they stood on the stage. Everyone from McKinley was out in the crowd as if they were having a reunion. She looked back at Santana and Brittany then smiled when the music began to play.

"Shoo doo..." they began to sing before Mercedes started the first line in the song. They continued to do the choreography that Brittany came up with as they walked our to the crowd. Santana sang the following verse as they flirted with the men in the crowd.

"Giving him something he can feel." Mercedes sang then felt her drop when Sam walked in and slowly made his way to the table. She watched Puck embrace him as Sam kept his eyes on her. She was supposed to sing the next line but missed the mark causing Santana to jump in. She looked over at Mercedes then followed her eyes then rolled them when she saw Sam. They continued the set then made their way back to the stage taking a last pose as the crowd erupted. The minute they got off the stage Santana went in.

"What the hell was that Mercedes?"

"Yeah Mercedes, you've never messed up on stage before." Brittany interjected as they all looked over at her.

"I was...uh...parched." she lied.

"No...you got stuck when Austin Butler's twin came waltzing through the door. You can't be still fawning over him?" Santana asked. "Are you going to perform _Flashlight_ 'cause I..." she stopped just as Puck came walking to the back with Sam in tow. Mercedes tried to gather herself as Britt and Santana both looked to her then back to Puck.

"Babe, you guys were great up there." Puck said kissing her cheek. Mercedes smiled then looked at Sam.

"Yeah, it was good seeing you back up there. You belong up there. We gotta get you in a studio or something." Sam said with a wide smile. She was happy Sam felt that way because she was going to ask him for his help.

"Thanks Sam." she replied then looked to Puck and smiled. "I was thinking about seeing if I could give that a shot again. What do you think?"

"Uh, babe, you're great in Lima." Puck laughed as if she was asking something crazy. "You're needed here not out there in Hollywood." he looked to Sam and hit him playfully. "Stop putting these crazy thoughts in her head man. Come on, I think Artie and the guys just got here." he added before pushing Sam out of the room. He looked back at her before following Puck out. Mercedes felt as if she was fuming. That was always his response whenever she suggested performing for more than just the Sugar Shack.

"You know you don't need Puck's approval, right?" Santana asked as she rubbed Mercedes shoulders. "Mercedes, are you okay? Do you want Brits and I to do another number?" Santana asked noticing that she was on the brink of tears.

"No...I'm okay...you guys can go out there. I'll be on stage in a second." she reassured them then quickly turned away before they could see her tearing up. She sucked it up quick, took a deep breath and decided to sing a different song. She hoped this song told everyone that she was tired and ready to do things according to her and no one else.

"Coming to the stage to perform Jessie J's Flashlight...Lima's own TroubleTone... Mercedes Jones!" Sugar announced with a bright smile before walking off the stage and hugging Mercedes. Santana smiled at her and gave her two thumbs up then frowned when she heard a different music playing. Mercedes nervously smiled out to the crowd and looked at Sam as if he had the extra energy she needed to boost her into singing this song. She then turned to Puck who was deep into his cellphone and began to sing.

"If I were a boy..." she began softly as a couple people in the crowd began to clap. "Even just for a day...I'd roll outta bed in the morning and throw on what I wanted and go." she looked away and continued to sing the next lines. "I'd put myself first and make the rules as I go... 'cause I know that she'd be faithful waiting for me to come home...oh to come home." she slowly removed the mic and walked to the opposite side of the stage before singing again.

"If I were a boy...I think I could understand... how it feels to love a girl... I swear I'd be a better man." she looked over to Puck who was just noticing what she was saying as a tear fell from her eye as she continued to sing louder. "I'd listen to her 'cause I know how it hurts." she held on to her chest then slowly walked to the other side of the stage. "Until you lose the one you wanted 'cause you're taken her for granted and everything you had got destroyed!" she smiled then walked back to the center stage and looked out to the crowd.

"Ohhhh it's a little too late for you to come back...say it's just a mistake and I'd forgive you like that..." she shook her head as she continued to sing. "If you thought I would wait for you...you thought wrong!" she held that note till everyone began to clap then closed her eyes before singing again. "If I were a boy, you don't care how it hurts until you lose the one you wanted 'cause you're taking her for granted and everything you had got destroyed!" she sang the last note before opening her eyes and singing softly. "But...you're just a boy...you don't care how it hurts...until you lose the one you wanted because you're taking her for granted and everything you had got destroyed."

Once she was done singing, she walked off stage and passed right by the table where everyone sat. She could hear Sugar talking about how she loved when Mercedes surprised them. She wondered if Puck would run after her to ask her about her performance but when she looked back he was laughing it up with Lauren Zises. She shook her head and wondered why she thought he would even care. He never did. She continued to walk over to her car and fumbled with her key as she tried to open the door.

"You were amazing up there." she heard his voice and slowly turned. If anyone was to follow her out there it would have been Sam. And his smile even when it was a full own always made her smile no matter what she was feeling at the moment. "Your voice is still as amazing as it was back high school." she wanted to say thank you because he always knew how to make her feel like a star but she didn't it feel. Seeing him now still made her feel a pain that she knew she would never get over.

"Why are you here, Sam?" she asked him instead.

"Puck invited me to see you sing." He seemed a bit shocked by her asking that so she continued.

"No...I mean here, in Lima. Why are you here? Why now? Where were you when I needed you?"

* * *

Sam arrived at the Sugar Shack just Mercedes and the girls were performing. Although he was happy see everyone from the glee club, all he cared about was seeing her. And when she sang _If I were a boy_ he could tell that her tears were not rehearsed. She was at her breaking point. She wasn't happy and she of all people deserved it. As she sang Sam recorded the entire thing while Puck sat back and sent text messages and then cozied up with Lauren Zises. Sam knew this was his shot but he wasn't ready for her to ask him about his cowardice actions.

"Why didn't you come back?" she asked as Sam tried to think of the best way to explain it.

"I...uh...I...was ashamed. My family fell into some really embarrassing hard time. Harder than what we went through here in Lima." he finally replied. She shook her head as if that was not a good enough response. "Did you listen to the CD I gave you? I explained most of it..."

"I stopped after week one, Sam." she cut him off. "Why can't you just tell me? Explain to me how...how...one day you're telling me that you love me and then next you're..." she said in between tears that she quickly wiped away. Sam hated that he was the reason she was crying. He was okay with the reason being Puck but the tears in her eyes now were tears she'd held back for him.

"I never stopped loving you, Mercedes. That's why I'm back. I meant what I said to you then and I'm not giving up on us or your talent." he stepped closer to her and continued when she didn't step back. "We can still make this happen."

"Sam, no...we can't happen. You know this." she finally stepped back and stopped him by placing her hand on his chest to stop him. "I'm with Puck now and we have a kid together and things are just..."

"Okay okay...I heard that last time."

"Then why are you acting like you forgot?"

"Because what I just saw in there!" Sam replied as he pointed back to the Sugar Shack. "You're not happy with him. And he doesn't support you and push you towards your dreams. Sure, I get it you have an amazing daughter together, okay. You can still have your career. And you can't stand there and tell me that you wouldn't be happier following your dreams like we said we would when we were in glee club."

"Sam, I don't know if you've noticed, but we're not in glee club anymore. We're adults now and life doesn't sit back and wait for us to dream. We have to live it."

"Well...I want to help you live it." Sam said stepping closer again to her then taking her hand in his. "Even if you choose to stay with Puck, at least let me help you produce your first EP." Sam stared into her eyes then smiled before begging. "Please?"

"Sam Evans..."

"I won't take no for an answer." he interrupted her with broader smile. She chewed on the side of her lips then smiled at him before rolling her eyes. "Let me see your phone."

"Excuse me?" she asked as he quickly slipped her phone from her pocket and quickly unlocked her screen with her password. "How did you know that was still my password?" she asked as she blushed. Just like his password was her birth date hers used to be his back when they were together.

"Because you never stopped loving me too." Sam replied as he opened up her Facebook then unlocked himself and sent a friend request to himself. He handed her the phone then took his own out and accepted the request before smiling at her. "There...now we can be friends again."

"What am I going to do with you?" she asked as she opened her door and hopped in shaking her head at him.

"Hopefully let me love you again..."

"Sammmm..."

"But I get it, I get it!" he replied raising his hands up as he leaned into the car. "I will respectfully keep my distance and just help you produce a dope ass album."

"I'll think about it and get back to you on that, okay?" she asked as she started the car." He smiled and stepped back before placing his hands in his pocket. "If anybody asks where I went just say I got sick or something." she stated before pulling off. He watched her drive away and fist pumped that things went better than he thought it would have. He had no reason to head back to the club so he decided to head back home to start working on their music. He was going to win her back and he didn't care how long it took.

* * *

 **Hey y'all I am feeling a lot better today. There was no flashback on this chapter but those will come back soon. I wanna get Mercedes back to being happy...not because she's back with Sam (and they are not back together...yet) but because she's doing what she loved. Singing. I want everyone to notice the complete change in how she is as the next chapters unfold.**

 **who's the daddy...we will find out eventually. I still don't know who the daddy is lol (JK)**

 **Does Mercedes know? She really thinks it is Puck. She's not being one of those chicks that pawn off a kid on the next man. She's not trifling.**

 **Will there be cheating in this fic...YERP! A WHOLE LOTTA! So if you don't wanna read a fic about infidelity I would suggest just moving forward.**

 **Thank you again for returning and reviewing. And to those first timers. I love hearing from you.**


	6. Chapter 6

Mercedes made it back home in time to relax inside of a nice bubble bath. She had a glass of wine in one hand and her cellphone in the other. She continued to scroll on Instagram as her fellow glee clubbers posted about the night at the Sugar Shack as they were still there. She received many messages from Santana and Britt asking her to come back to which she lied about being sick to her stomach. Then she got a tag from Artie as he was taunting her to come back in a quick video. She had to pause the video and sit up so that she could get a good look because she couldn't believe who she saw in the corner together. She quickly commented under the picture:

"Who is Puck with in that corner?" she commented then waited for a response. The first person to reply was Santana who simply commented:

"Oh Hell to the Naw!"

"Is that Lauren?" Rachel commented next then a second later Mercedes prepared to comment then hit send several times but it wouldn't post because Artie deleted the video. Mercedes felt like getting dressed and heading back to the Shack but as she jumped out of the tub she stopped herself. She wrapped herself in her robe then laughed at herself. How many times was she going to keep going through the bullshit with Puck? She mentally promised herself after getting off the stage that her happiness was going to be first now. If Puck did whatever the hell he wanted, then why couldn't she?

"If I were a boy..." she sang to herself as a smile spread across her face. She undrained the tub and chugged the rest of her wine before making her way to her bedroom. She grabbed her laptop then logged onto Facebook and then clicked on Sam's name. She was ready to tell him that she was prepared to work with him on her record. She pressed the video icon then waited to see if he'd answer.

"Oh wow, is it my birthday?" Sam asked after answering within two rings. She hated how seeing his face quickly made her smile. He was still so God Damn good looking.

"Why are you so crazy?" she asked as she chuckled and lied down on her hands then stared at him.

"What's crazy is how you managed to get prettier than you were in high school." he got closer to the screen as if he could stick his head in. "What you got on?"

"Boy if you don't..." she chuckled again. "I am wearing a robe, thank you."

"It's nothing I haven't seen before." he joked.

"Keep playing and you won't get to see it again." she threatened. Sam frowned then quickly smiled mischievously.

"So...you're saying I still have a chance?" he asked causing Mercedes to sit up and place her finger in the screen.

"Don't make me regret this, but what I am saying is that I'll work with you but only if we keep it professional."

"Okay, cool, I can dig that." Sam replied shaking his head. "What about Puckerman?"

"It's none of his business. This...this is about me and the promise we made to each other about following our dreams. That's all okay?"

"Got it!" Sam smiled. "Well let me give you a quick tour of my studio." He stood up and gave the room a quick scan. It wasn't anything major but from where she sat she could tell he spent a lot on hooking the place up. "So what do you think?"

"I'm trying to figure how much all of that cost?"

"It didn't cost as much as you would think. Most of these items I got from the local pawn shop and I hooked everything up myself."

"Sam, you're on a teacher's salary. How are you able to afford all of that?" she asked feeling more proud of him then she thought would have been. He was closer to living his dream than she was. He never gave him and here she was letting Puck decide if she follows her dreams. Never again.

"I saved every penny I could in Memphis just to make this moment happen." he replied. He looked a bit embarrassed as he continued to explain the sacrifices he made. "Some days not even sure what I would eat for dinner, because after a while I was practically the sole provider of the household."

"Sam..."

"It's okay...all of that is in the past now. I knew if I kept saving I could return to you and we can live out our dreams like we always planned."

"I'm sorry I messed those plans up."

"No I messed things up because I didn't save fast enough to get back to you." he said as they both just stared off at each other wondering where would they be had he came back sooner. "So much happened all because I left and didn't return." he sighed. "You ever think of what life would have been like if certain things didn't happen?"

"More than I want to admit." she replied as a smile came across her face. "I think if you came back then us girl would have came back to New Directions."

"I might have tried out for...uh...synchronized swimming..."

"Blaine would have probably stayed at Dalton."

"Finn, might have still been alive."

"Sam, his death was note because of you or anyone else. He had his own demons he'd been dealing with. You know he found out his father didn't die while he was in the army. That took a toll on him. Broke him and Rachel up pretty badly. He finally couldn't take it when she married Jesse St. James. You remember him, right?" She asked as Sam nodded. "If you came back you would've helped Mr. Schuester find a better proposal song. He struggled and picked a song that had him all sweaty and Ms. Pillsbury ran off before accepting the proposal." she giggled.

"We would've went to prom together, got famous, married and have children." Sam stated as the smile that was on her face slowly faded away.

"But you didn't come back and things went to hell around here...for me." Mercedes responded. She hated that she brought them back to frowning again so she decided to redirect it. "So, you're back now and we can change things now. Tell me what you've been working on. I haven't gotten to all of the CD but I will soon."

"Cool...no pressure. They are all a bit dated anyway. Thinking we should write songs for this era instead. I have one called Colorblind and uh...Shaking My Head, which kind of reminds me of when you sang Hell to the No." he got up and grabbed his guitar then sat in front of the camera again. "I have this one song I wrote since I got back in town. It's a bit rusty, you wanna hear it?" he asked as Mercedes nodded her head quickly. She knew whenever he said a song was rusty that meant it was about to be really emotional. He was always overly critical of his emotional songs.

"I'm sure I'll love it." Mercedes said as he smiled and began strumming his guitar. She always loved when he played his guitar and when he sang. The intense look he had on his face always looked as if he was pushing all of his emotions with every word that came out of his mouth.

"Loving, fighting, accusing, uniting, I can't imagine a world with you gone. The joy and the chaos, the demons we're made of, I'd be so lost if you left me alone." he closed his eyes as he continued the next few lines. "You locked yourself in the bathroom, lying on the floor when I break through, I pull you in to feel your heartbeat. Can you hear me screaming, please don't leave me." he continued. "Hold on I still want you. Come back I still need you." He opened his eyes and looked at her as he sang the next line. "Let me take your hand, I'll make it right. I swear to love you all my life." he smiled then strummed one more time. "Hold on I still need you."

"I don't wanna let go... I know I'm not that strong..." he stared intensely at her as he continued. "I just wanna hear you, saying baby, let's go home." he smiled at her faintly. "Let's go home, I just wanna take you home...hold on I still want you... Come back I still need you." he played a couple more notes then stopped to look at her.

Mercedes was completely blown away and had she been in the studio with him as he played that song, she might have kissed him. He was always great at expressing himself through music. And this song was definitely something she was hoping he was not thinking she was going to sing. This song was his love letter to her.

"So, yeah, it's a bit rusty."

"Are you kidding me?" Mercedes sat up and shook her head. "That was amazing, Sam. If you can write me something like that..."

"You think so?"

"Yes." she responded. "And you still sound just as good as you did in high school." she added.

"Good enough for a duet with you?" Sam asked as he already started strumming on his guitar.

"Sam...not tonight I can't sing anymore after performing earlier." Mercedes responded.

"Just one more song. Sing with me, please." he begged. She hated how fine looked when he wasn't even trying. He continued to strum the tune for Human Nature and smiled when she sighed and sat up.

"Looking out...across the night time the city winks a sleepless eye. Hear his voice...shook my window...sweet seducing sighs." she smiled as he jumped in.

"Get me out into the night time, four walls won't hold me tonight. If this town is just an apple...then lemme take a bite." he smiled back at her and continued to strum.

"If they say why why, tell em that it's human nature." they sang together.

"Why, why, does he do me that way..." she sang.

"Reaching out to touch a stranger..."

"Babe! I'm home!" Puck shouted interrupting Sam as Mercedes quickly slammed the laptop close on him then pretended to sleep by pushing the laptop under the pillow. Her heart was thumping a mile a minute as Puck made his way to their bedroom and looked at her. "Oh, you're sleeping." he mumbled then made his way towards the drawer. Mercedes peeked as she watched him undress and text at the same time. She hated that he interrupted her moment with Sam but for the moment she wanted to know who was he texting. Probably Lauren or one of the many MILFs he claimed were his clients.

She watched as he placed his cellphone on the charger then walked into the bathroom to shower. The minute she heard the water running she pulled out the laptop and sent Sam a message apologizing. She lied and told him her laptop died and he quickly replied back as if he had been waiting saying that it was cool. She listened for Puck to start singing then ran over to his cellphone. She put in his code, which was his birthday then saw one message appear. She clicked on Lauren's name and sighed as it only displayed one message.

"Oh it was." She locked the phone again then made her way back to bed. It was obvious that Puck deleted all the previous messages. Oh it was, was a response to something but there were no other messages to Lauren. Why did he delete those messages? Something was definitely going on between him and Lauren. She was going to get to the bottom of this the minute she had the chance. She was getting mad by the minute. And when he got out of the shower she tried her hardest not to pounce up and throw her laptop at his head. She watched as he danced around the room, throw his wet towel on the ground, completely miss the hamper with his dirty clothes as he pulled on a boxer then jumped in bed. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close as he tried to get some as usual.

"Babe." he mumbled behind her as she pushed him away. "You smell really good." he said as he tried to pull her back towards him.

"Not tonight Puckerman."

"What I do?" he had the nerve to ask as she quickly sat up. "Wait...you were pretending to sleep?"

"What happened between you and Lauren at the Shack?"

"Chill out!" he said as he sat up and looked at her as if she was crazy. "We were just dancing and chillin'. Why are you trippin'?"

"I ain't ask you about everybody. I was asking because Artie had a video of you and Lauren getting it on in a corner. What the hell were you two doing?"

"I'mma kill him!" Puck said instead of answering her question.

"And why is she still texting you?"

"You went through my phone?" he asked as he jumped out of the bed and grabbed his cellphone.

"Stop answering my questions with a question!" Mercedes said as she hit him with a pillow then followed him. "Are you two messing around again?"

"What?"

"Why is she still texting your phone, Noah?"

"Wow, I can't believe you went through my phone. So I guess trust is just out of this relationship now, huh? This is crazy!" he said ignoring her question. "Hope you found what you were lookin' for."

"Do you think I'm stupid? You deleted her messages, so of course I found nothing."

"Babe, I'm not messing with her. She was just happy to see me again and was all over me. I told her that I'm with you and pushed her away." he responded. "I'm guessing that's what you saw on his video."

"And why did you delete her messages?"

"I...uh...told her to leave me alone and stop texting me." he replied then walked over to her and placed his arms around her. "I promise, there's nothing going on. I only want you." he kissed her then pulled out his cellphone. "Look, I'll text her to leave me alone and block her number." He turned the phone so that Mercedes could see as he sent that message then blocked her as he promised. "Now come on, don't ruin tonight. This will probably be the last night we get without Nora being home. Can we just go to bed?"

"I'm not sleepy anymore. I think I'll go watch some Netflix out in the living room." Mercedes said as she grabbed her laptop and walked back to the living room. Once she was in the living room she sent Sam a text message asking if he was asleep yet. He quickly responded that he was there and they began exchanging messages. Mercedes knew she couldn't trust a word Puck had said and as she assumed, he unblocked Lauren once she was out of the room. He simply changed her saved name to Artie before calling her for some phone sex.

* * *

Sam and Mercedes continued exchanging messages on Facebook for another thirty minutes before decided to video call her. He knew she initially closed the screen because Puck came home. He heard Puck's voice when he yelled out Babe. He thought he wouldn't hear from her again but then she messaged him again so he decided to stay up longer for her to come back. They reminisced at first of the time they spent that summer till she began asking him about Memphis.

"So, are you ever going to tell me how you ended up saving money and supporting a family at the tender age of seventeen?" Mercedes asked. Sam debated when he was going to tell her. He wanted her to listen to the CD, which tells her everything but she didn't listen to it. Now here she was looking at him on the screen with eyes that always melted his heart and a smile that was infectious. "I mean, where was your parents?"

"Uh...they were there but they just couldn't find anything and when they saw me raking in money they..." he shrugged as he remembered how his parents completely gave up and allowed him to be the breadwinner. "I had two jobs and barely graduated."

"That's crazy, Sam. Why didn't you just say no?"

"Every time I looked at Stacy and Stevie, I just couldn't do it. So I just did what I had to do." he replied. Although at the moment she was looking at him in awe, he knew she wouldn't still have that same look when she finds out what he did to support them. "It was hard and I barely got any sleep but I kept thinking about you and knew I couldn't give up." he added and smiled at her. She sighed and shook her head as if something wasn't making sense. "What?"

"I still don't get why you never wrote me or called me. You have no idea how hurt I was. How confused I was about you...about us...and then about me. I thought you didn't love me."

"I never stopped loving you, Mercedes. You're the reason I kept going. Without you, I would've failed high school and given up completely on my dream." Sam confessed. He could tell by the look on her face that she was still wondering things.

"So why didn't you call me?"

"I didn't have your number."

"Come on, Sam, find a better excuse then that." She said, then rolled her eyes at him.

"Seriously, I didn't remember it." Sam responded. "After I left your house, I forgot my charger for my phone so it died. I went home to find my parents were kicked out of the motel and they sold their phones for money. I tried to use the hotel phone but the guy wouldn't let me. My parents made me sell my phone for money and back then I never had to remember your number. You were my number speed dial."

"Okay, well what about Facebook?"

"By the time I got the nerve to write you...I was blocked." he responded.

"Email, twitter, or you could've made a fake account."

"You're right. I was a coward. I was afraid of what you would think when you found how what was really going on with me and my family."

"That's crazy Sam. I have never judged you for what you're family went through."

"There's more than that." Sam said as he hung his head in shame and rubbed the back of his neck. Mercedes looked worried as she sat up and got closer to the screen.

"What do you mean more? What else happened?" she asked.

"Alright, I'm just going to spit it out. But please remember I did it for my family and our future, Okay?"

"Sam, were you sleeping around for money?" she asked with concern dripping off every word. Sam couldn't help but laugh as he mimicked her catch prase.

"Hell to the no."

"First off, don't ever do that again." She said laughing at him then shaking her head before she continued. "And secondly, if not that then what?"

"Promise you won't..."

"Just spit it out, Sam!" she exclaimed then looked up to make sure she didn't wake up Puck.

"I was a stripper. A Stripper called White Chocolate the sexy boy next door." he blurted out and kept his eyes closed till he heard her laughing. "You're laughing?"

"Hell yeah I'm laughing. That must have been a town full of thirsty ass heifers, Sam. You can't dance!" Mercedes exclaimed as Sam looked at her in shock. If he would have known that she would have taken this news this way he would have told her before. "What was your signature move? The robot move you did at Prom?"

"Oh you didn't get to see my newer moves." Sam stood up and did his best body roll move that used to get him a lot of money. He thought it would get Mercedes excited but instead she kept trying to stifle her laughs till her eyes watered. "I can't believe you're laughing at my best moves. You loved these moves."

"Sam!" she said between clenched teeth. "No one knows we...you know."

"Not even Kurt?"

"Not even Kurt." she replied. The smile that was on Sam's face slowly faded away as he understand why she didn't tell anyone. She was ashamed of him. Especially since he left right after they did it. Minutes later he heard the door upset opening and knew Kitty was back. The day she went back home would be the best day for him and he needed to nip that in the bud asap.

"Anyway, I really enjoyed our conversation today." Sam said as he smiled at her. "Thank you for being understanding. I should have known you wouldn't stop loving me over that."

"I don't think I even know how to stop." she mumbled assuming that he didn't hear it but he did. He smiled and bid her goodnight. "Goodnight."

* * *

 **Hey I updated twice today because I know I have been behind on my updates. Anyway, I hope you all love the updates. Sam finally confessed to being a stripper and Mercedes took it well. So far the story is no longer a love triangle...there's so much entanglement that I don't know what shape it is anymore lol.**


	7. Chapter 7

Sam woke up Monday morning feeling as if things were starting to look up for him. He spent the entire weekend chatting, text and talking to Mercedes. It felt like old times talking to her at night. For a minute there, he forgot all about Kitty till she would come home later that night. Sam knew that he needed to end things with her and chatting with Mercedes that weekend, gave him the courage he needed to have the talk with Kitty about them being over. She was in and out all day on Saturday, so on Sunday morning he caught up with her before she could leave.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked as he watched her pack her lunch.

"Work."

"You work on Sunday too?" he asked in shock. Back in Tennessee, she wouldn't even get up before noon on Sunday morning.

"Yeah, I know. Shocking huh?" she smiled as she put a couple bottles of waters in her bag. "I didn't think I would like it but I actually enjoy this job. My boss is really cool for someone born here...and someone older." she added as she made her way to the door.

"Uh...that's great...so uh...before you go..." Sam said as he quickly took her hand and guided her to the living room sofa.

"What are you doing? I'm going to be late."

"I won't take too much of your time." Sam said as he sat on top of the ottoman that was in front of the sofa and tried to picture Mercedes for strength to pull through this. "So...I've been thinking that maybe we should...I mean...I think we need some space."

"Space?" she repeated as if the word didn't make sense at all to her. "What do you mean we need some space? I have a job now so I'm not always here so..."

"Great! So you can afford your own space. Somewhere else other than here."

"Excuse me? Wait? Are you trying to break up with me?" Kitty asked as if the word space finally made sense. "You can't break up with me." she said more to herself than to Sam then stood up shook her head at him. "You can't break up with me, Sam! I relocated to this hick town for you..."

"I never wanted you to do that. I told you not to do that." Sam interjected.

"What was I supposed to do? Just let you leave me?"

"That was the idea, Kitty."

"Sam, you can't break up with me. Where will I go?"

"You can move back to Tennessee...or I can pay for a weeks stay at the American Family Motel..."

"A motel? Are you kidding me?" she asked as Sam looked at her and nodded. As far as he was concerned there wasn't anything bad about staying there.

"My family stayed there for a few months before we moved to Tennessee. It's not as bad as you think and it will just be something for now. I can make the reservation and pay for the first week before you get a check. You have a job now so you can find a studio apartment in town or..."

"I can't believe you, Sam." she stated as she charged back to their bedroom and started stuffing her things inside of her suitcase. "Wait till my father finds out that you kicked me out on the street after making me move here with you..."

"I didn't make you do that and I am not putting you on the street. I am getting you a..."

"And right before I go to work? On a Sunday?" she quickly zipped her suitcase then dragged it back to the living room and snatched her purse. "I'll come back for the rest of my things." she added but Sam quickly stood up and ran to the front door and stopped her.

"Wait...wait...hold on a sec, Kitty." he said as he pulled her back by her hand once again. She stopped and smiled as if she thought he was changing his mind. "I...uh...I think it will be best if you give me your spare key and just call me so that we can arrange when you can get your things."

"Excuse me? Are you for real right now?" she asked as she stared at him as if he had lost his ever loving mind, but Sam was serious. Last thing he wanted was for to think she can come and go as she pleases. He held out his hand and nodded as she glared at him and rummaged through her purse before taking the key off her keychain then threw it at him. Sam dodged the key but still held the door for her as she struggled to hold the door open and leave with her suitcase. "I...don't...need your help." she grunted and glared at him as he tried to help her again. "Sam, I swear to God! Don't help me!" she shouted.

"Okay...okay...but I can still make you a reservation at the Motel and I'll pay..." he stopped just as she turned to glare at him again then got in her car and sped off. He felt bad about how it all went down but he had a feeling it would have went that way no matter how he sprung it on her. He also knew that she never took him serious when he broke up with her in the past but him taking the key was his way of showing he was serious. And to make sure she didn't end up back inside of the house he immediately grabbed his tools to change the locks.

Which again, brings us back to why he was in such a great mood. Not only was Kitty out of his life for good, he was also on his way to have coffee with Mercedes. When he asked that they discussed their plans for working on her music over coffee, he didn't know if she would accept and when she did he was just beside himself. And now he was sitting in his car and watching Mercedes get out of her car. Once she closed her door he hopped out of his car and quickly tried to catch up to her so that he could hold the door open for her.

"Hey there pretty lady, lemme get that for ya." he offered with smile tugging the corner of his lips as she blushed and smiled back at him.

"Sam...hey!"

"How was your morning?" he asked as he followed her inside. He couldn't wait for the day when he could wake up and see just how her morning was but for now he had to settle for just asking her.

"It was...uh...refreshing, I guess." she smiled as they stood in line waiting to order. "You know I usually have to run after Myra to get ready and she sulks around practically dragging her feet up until we leave."

"That's exactly how I used to be when I was her age. My mother complained every day about it." Sam admitted as they walked up to the barista and ordered their drinks. Sam got his mocha chocolatte with his chocolate muffin and frown when she ordered her tea and fiber one bar. "Still with the tea, I see." he said as he paid then followed her over to a table then shook his head when she nodded.

"I gotta lose this weight, Sam."

"You look great, Mercedes." he stated as she took a sip of her tea and rolled her eyes. "I know you don't believe it but you look great to me."

"Well I want to look great...to myself...and I don't feel great." she admitted before looking out the window as if she didn't want him to see how much she really believed that. Sam could tell that there was nothing that he would say that would change her mind so instead he decided to be supportive. He reached across the table and placed his hand over hers then stroked the top of her hand with his thumb. She looked down at their hands and smiled before stroking his hand with her fingers as well.

"I miss you." Sam confessed as she finally looked up at him.

"We've been talking all week, Sam." she said before finally sliding her hand away from his.

"I mean, I miss us. I miss this." Sam responded as he reached for her hand again. She looked at their hands again then slowly pulled away and looked around before leaning forward.

"Sam, this..." she pointed between the two of them before continuing. "...is purely business, remember? We are only working together. I'm still with Puckerman, okay?" she reminded him. Sam completely forgot all about Puckerman. All he kept thinking was that Kitty was out of the way but he completely forgot Mercedes was still with Puck the father of her child.

"Yeah...yeah...I remember...I'm just saying that I miss spending time with you. That's all." Sam lied as he sat back and forced a smile on his face to hide the fact that he was disappointed. He wasn't sure why he thought Mercedes would leave Puck and be with him. She was never that type of girl. Another reason why he loved her as much as he did.

"Right...and we're about to spend a lot of time in your studio soon, right?"

"Yeah...speaking of that." he grabbed his phone and swiped through till he found what he was looking for then smiled when he found the video he made of her singing at the Sugar Shack. He handed her the phone and eagerly watched as she pressed play.

"Sam...is this me?" she asked as if the person on the video could have been anyone else. " I was a mess and in tears. You recorded me that night?"

"Yeah...the tears made the performance more passionate." he replied proud-fully. "And I sent it to a friend of mine in Memphis, who knows a guy that knows a guy that is looking for a recording artist...and he's kind of interested in seeing you."

"Sam, are you for real?"

"Yeah! He just wants to see you sing something else because he claims everyone sings Beyonce." Sam felt a bit better when she stared down at his phone in awe before looking back up at him with a wider smile.

"Then we really gotta get started...do you have anything ready for me?"

"I have a couple ideas. I was thinking you can come by the studio tomorrow. I don't have any classes since all of my students are going on a field trip. And then we can just find where we can squeeze a sesh in before heading to Memphis to meet with the guy..."

"Wait...we have to go to Memphis? Can't he come here?" Mercedes asked in a panic. "I mean, this is crazy Sam. I can't just leave Lima with you. Puck would never go for it."

"Mercedes, listen, this is your dream. Do you really want to look back at this opportunity and say you ignored it because Puck doesn't want to support your talent?"

"I gotta think about this, Sam." she replied instead. Sam couldn't believe she really was going to think about it. The Mercedes he knew would never ignore an opportunity like this. The Mercedes he knew would never give up so easily. "I'm not saying I give up or anything just...I just need to figure out if my parents can watch Samyra." she quickly said as if she could read his mind. He knew that if he really wanted her to be happy he had to make sure he didn't push her too much. So instead he decided to change the subject.

"I can dig it." he said nodding his head. "Speaking of Samyra...can we talk about that name for a second?" he asked and smiled when she quickly got up and took the last sip of her tea.

"Oh lord...I knew you would make a thing out of this." she said as he got up and followed behind her.

"I'm just saying, Samyra's a pretty name. I wonder where you got it from."

"It just came to me." she lied as a smile tugged at her lips.

"Hmmm...I wonder what I'll name my son...maybe something will come to me." Sam said as Mercedes turned to him and poked his side.

"You better not, Sam! That will be my son's name and you know it."

"Hey you took my daughter's name." Sam said as he remembered the day they both picked out names for their future children.

 _They were chilling by the lake as they usually did when they spent time together. Ever since Sam brought her there, Mercedes became addicted to sitting lakeside as he strummed his guitar. As he played the guitar, she would either hum or sing whatever came to her mind as she looked out at the lake. Usually Sam would stare out at the lake as well but he was in a trance as he stared at his girlfriend. He smiled at how adorable she was when she was really feeling a tune that he was playing. She'd close her eyes and just sway as if the music was taking her away._

 _"You know I can feel you staring at me." she sang before slowly opening her eyes then looking over at him and blushing as he continued to stare at her. She shook her head then crept over to him and placed a kiss on his lips. "There...are you satisfied?" she asked till he nodded. "You're still staring, babe."_

 _"I know." he replied before putting his guitar down and grabbing his song book and turning to a blank page before he began to quickly sketch something. "You ever wonder what our baby would look like?"_

 _"Hell to the no! We're about to be seniors. I am not about to pull a Puck and Quinn on my senior year." she replied. She didn't want to spend her senior year pregnant but she'd thought about having kids with Sam plenty times._

 _"I don't mean right now, babe." he replied as he continued to sketch. "I mean like when we're old and married."_

 _"You've thought of marrying me?"_

 _"What do you think I meant when I told you that I loved you?" Sam asked as if she should know that his love was forever._

 _"Well...I thought...hmmm, didn't he tell Quinn he loved her?" she playfully said then laughed when he glared at her. "I'm just playing, babe. And yes I've thought about what our baby would look like. I'm guessing you already have her name huh?" Mercedes asked knowing that Sam was always ready to dive into everything._

 _"I have." he replied and continued to draw as he answered. "And I like how you assumed I would want a daughter instead of a son." he added before turning the picture he drew towards her. "So I'm thinking she would have your almond shaped eyes, she's going to have great lips no matter what, umber skin and possibly my blonde hair but curly and fluffy like yours." He smiled when she scrunched her face up at blonde hair. "Okay maybe not blonde."_

 _"This is actually cute, Sam. She does look like me." Mercedes said as she took the book from him and stared at the picture then realized he wrote the name at the bottom. "Wait...Samyra? You'd name our daughter Samyra? Why would our daughter have to have your name?"_

 _"It's just a suggestion and I think the name is fitting. She looks like a Samyra."_

 _"No she looks like Mercedes...or I guess Mercedes Junior. We could call her M.J. or something like that."_

 _"I think Samyra is better." Sam replied as he shook his head at her suggestion. "Okay, so what would you name our son then?"_

 _"I don't know...maybe August or something." Mercedes responded._

 _"August? What? Now that's wack!" Sam said as he began to laugh. Mercedes grabbed a couple straws of grass and tossed it his way then stared down at the guitar that was on the ground._

 _"Okay, if I tell you the name I really want, you have to promise not to laugh at it. Or call it wack."_

 _"I can't promise that." Sam admitted as he continued to laugh. "'Cause if it's anything like August I just can't hold it in." Mercedes glared at him then crossed her arms till he finally stopped laughing. "Okay okay...I won't laugh."_

 _"Promise?"_

 _"Promise."_

 _"I was thinking about naming my son Chord." she paused and closed one eye as if she was ready for him to laugh. But when he didn't she continued to explain. "Like the chords you play...you know guitar chords...because I love when you play those chords...forget it." she finally said before looking back out into the lake."You get on my nerves."_

 _"So...I guess I'll be naming our kids, huh?" Sam said before she glared at him. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her lips before staring into her eyes. "I love you but we are not going to have a baby girl named Mercedes Junior and a son named Chord August Evans."_

 _"And you're crazy if you think I will ever name my daughter Samyra."_

* * *

"Do you know how shocked I was to see that you took the one name that you claimed you didn't like? I mean what the did Puckerman say? What made you change your mind?" Sam asked as they tossed the rest of their drinks away. "From what I remember, you said I was crazy. Crazy!"

"And you still are crazy." Mercedes responded as they made their way out the door. "The name just grew on me after you left that's all."

"Well then Chord grew on me too."

"Sam that's going to be my son's name!"

"Okay then we'll just have to have a baby boy together then." Sam responded as they finally walked out the door of the Lima bean then bumping right into Santana and Brittany.

"Whoa...Hey Sam? Mercedes, what's this I hear about you two having a baby together?" Santana asked as she looked between the two of them. Mercedes quickly moved to put more space between them.

"Uh...that's not what he was saying." Mercedes added as Sam smiled at the ladies. "I just bumped into him as he was getting his coffee. He's on his way to school now."

"Oh wow, Sam, I thought you graduated." Brittany said as everyone looked at her then back to each other.

"I'm a teacher at Lima elementary...and uh...Mercedes is right. I have to actually get going before I run late." Sam added. "It was really nice catching up with you." he said as he touched Mercedes' arm and stoked it quickly before turning his attention to the girls. "See you both around." he waved them off then ran over to his car leaving the girls behind. Mercedes tried to pretend as if she couldn't feel the girls were staring at her waiting to see what really happened.

"So...are you going to tell me why you and Sam were practically going half on a baby inside of Lima Bean as if you're single."

"I was not, Santana. He saw me drinking my tea and decided to uh...join me."Mercedes said as she walked over to her car and the girls followed her. "We were just playing catch up. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with that? What if Puck saw you?"

"Uh...Puck was at Sugar Shack being real suspect with Lauren and plus...he had a business trip yesterday all of a sudden. He told me he wasn't coming back till tomorrow anyway." Mercedes responded. "And Sam is a friend so there's nothing wrong with us catching up over coffee."

"I don't know, Mercedes, I have to agree with Santana. Sam looks like he's in love with you and not in the way Lord Tubbington loves catnip." Brittany added as Santana shook her head in agreement but suddenly stopped when Brittany mentioned her cat.

"Look, I have to go to the gym. I will catch up to you guys later." Mercedes said as she quickly jumped into her car and started her car then suddenly Sam's voice started to play on the radio. Santana's eyebrows raised as she crossed her arms waiting for Mercedes to explain. "I...uh...I gotta go." she added before driving off. She wasn't doing anything wrong by seeing Sam but suddenly she was feeling as if she was cheating. And if she was feeling this way now, how was she going to feel when she dropped her daughter off to her parents then left Ohio with Sam for Memphis. She knew if she kept things professional then there was no way she would cheat on Puckerman. She wasn't going to let Puckerman stand in the way of her dreams anymore. He followed his dreams and it was her turn now. Either way, Mercedes knew something suspicious was going on with him but until she figured out the truth she wanted to make sure before she allowed her feelings for Sam to resurface.

* * *

 **So hey everybody, sorry it's been quite a hectic month. Are you all still out there reading this crazy fic of mine? So far, I haven't had anything crazy happen yet but it's coming so fair warning...stop now...don't read on lol jk read away...get mad at me...cuss me out for what Im about to do to them.**

 **So Sam finally broke up with Kitty but is she gone for good? Do you think she went back to Tennessee? Shouldn't he have told Mercedes about her?**

 **So Sam picked out Samyra's name...aint that some shit lol...Also I had to slide Chord's name in there.**

 **Where do you think Puckerman went?**

 **Should Mercedes tell Puck about going to Memphis or should she just go?**


	8. Chapter 8

Sam tapped a couple buttons on his computer as he continued to work on songs he felt were great for Mercedes. After meeting up with her for coffee and telling her about Memphis, he felt he was close to getting her back. Even if it were only through music. He was just happy to spend time with her like he said to her at the cafe. He meant that but deep down he knew they were meant for each other and that the only reason they were not together was because she felt she had to be with Puck. Sam wished he could tell her that she didn't but he knew the more he pushed the worse things would be for them. So instead, he decided to focus on the music. Once he got her to Memphis and show her the life she was meant to have she could finally be the happy Mercedes he remembered.

"Perfect song." Sam mumbled to himself then made his way to his kitchen before pausing as he noticed a car pulling into the driveway. A few minutes later he heard the doorknob jiggle and then the sound of Kitty kicking the door before cursing at it. "Ha! I changed the locks, Kitty!" he shouted before walking over to open the door.

"What for? I gave you the keys." Kitty said as she glared at him. Sam looked down at her hand where she was holding a pair of new keys.

"I knew you'd make a new one." Sam smiled and stepped aside so that she could come in before closing the door.

"I only came to get the rest of my things and I didn't want to do it with you here." she replied then stomped into the bedroom where Sam had already packed her things. "Wow, Sam, classy...just classy."

"I was only trying to help."

"I told you already that I didn't need your help." Kitty said as she glared at him. "I already got myself an apartment in town and I did it all without you."

"I'm happy for you. I really am and I didn't do this to hurt you..."

"You didn't do this to hurt me?" she asked cutting him off. "You dragged me to Cow Tippington..."

"I didn't drag..."

"And things are going great with us..."

"Things were not going great..."

"Then boom, all of a sudden you just want to break up with me and kick me out?"

"First, it wasn't all of a sudden and secondly, I've been breaking up with you for the past few months. You just wouldn't listen..."

"You don't know what you want." Kitty interjected as she shook her head in denial. "You and I were good for us. We made us work. I thought this move would have made us better. It still can make us work."

"No...we cannot...you still think that you can change my mind. But I'm not going to change my mind and the lock changes were supposed to get you to understand it is over...for good." Sam responded as she stared at him before nodding then allowing a smile to creep on her face.

"Who is she?"

"What?"

"All of this is because of some chick isn't it? That ex of yours that you left in high school, huh?" she asked as Sam rolled his eyes. "You think that she'd want you back after what you did? I wouldn't take you back."

"I changed the locks on our doors after breaking up with you and you were still trying to convince that we can make this work."

"You know what...screw you." Kitty said as she reached for the door and opened it. "I don't know what I ever saw in you."

"The feeling is mutual...lock the door when you're done, okay." Sam responded before heading back to his studio. Once he was down in the studio he heard her dragging the rest of her things and coming in and out then the sound of her talking to someone. He wondered who it was but by the time he got to the door she had already slammed the door behind her and locking it from inside.

* * *

Mercedes stepped on the scale, sweat dripping off the tip of her nose as she looked down at the digit scale. She'd worked out harder than she normally did because she normal fantasized as she worked out. This time she had things on her mind. She thought about Sam and his offer. She thought about how Puck would feel once she mentioned working with Sam again to pursue her career in music. She knew he'd immediately throw Samyra in her face and make her feel guilty about wanting more. He'd ask her about if she'd even think what Samyra would think but what Puckerman failed to understand was that Mercedes did think of her. She pondered about the message she was sending to her daughter by not following her dreams. And that alone was telling her that she needed to do it more than anything else.

"Five pounds away." she smiled triumphantly before stepping down and wiping her face then heading for the showers. She felt a boost of confidence when she checked herself out in the mirror. Last time she felt that confident was back to prom night. She slipped her jeans on then her top and smiled again as she noticed her hourglass shape was more visible now. "Don't let nobody steal your joy." she said to herself before grabbing her dufflebag and walking out and bumping right into Lauren. "Oh sorry, my bad, girl!"

"Oh hey, what are you doing here?" she asked with a smile on her face. Mercedes smiled back but her mind kept going back to seeing her and Puck all cuddled up at the shack. Puck claimed it was nothing but everyone knew how much history Puck and Lauren had. What she couldn't understand was that Lauren had history with her as well. They were really close up until senior year when Puck and Mercedes began dating. Lauren moved away that summer but she claimed there was no beef between them.

"I work out here almost every day. What...uh...are you doing here?" She asked as they both moved away from the door. "I mean, back in Lima? Are you here for good or..."

"Uh...yeah...I'm the new wrestling coach at McKinley and I come here to spar a few rounds."

"That's great, girl. That's what's up." Mercedes said with a smile as she struggled with the need to ask her more about what happened at the shack. "So...uh...can I ask you something?" Mercedes asked and noticed that she shifted a bit. Something was there and she needed to see if Lauren was still the cool straight forward chick that she used to be.

"Yeah...what's up?"

"We used to be really cool back at McKinley, right?" she asked and smiled when Lauren nodded her head. "You know I've been with Puck since high school and we have a kid together."

"Yeah, I've seen pictures of Norah. Puck showed me some pictures at the shack."

"Yeah, back at the shack...I saw a picture where you and Puck looked a bit chummy." Mercedes noticed Lauren shifting again but this time she looked like she was getting angry.

"And? Everyone was getting chummy...it was like a mini reunion. What's your point?"

"Look, me and you have always been cool and what I have always liked about you is that you're a straight shooter. I wanted to just talk to you woman to woman and see what was up."

Right..." she scoffed before stepping closer to Mercedes before looking around then staring her in the eyes. "Look, we may have used to been cool in high school but this ain't high school anymore. If you want to talk to me woman to woman, I'm cool with that but don't step to me about Puck, okay? You got issues with your man, you step to your man and ask him what's up. Not me!" she stepped back then stepped up again before saying once more. "If you're going to step to me again, make sure you step correct." then walked off leaving Mercedes where she stood.

Mercedes wanted to tell her about herself but she hated to admit that Lauren was right. She should have never stepped to Lauren. If Puck was cheating on her with Lauren then her issue was and always should have been with Puck, but she just thought Lauren was cool enough to be straight up. Something was going on with him but she was starting to think that it may have been with some other chick and not just Lauren. If it isn't Lauren, it would be some other chick. It was always some other chick but he always claims that they have only been fruitless flirting. It was time she did something about it. She made her way to her car and called Puckerman up.

"Hey babe!" he greeted her.

"Where are you? Who are you with?"

"Whoa, baby, chill." Puck said. "I told you I had a business deal that I had to check out and I got my assistant with me...well she was with me. She left not too long ago. What are you tripping on?"

"Business, huh? What business? Did you get the deal?" Mercedes asked as she continued to drive.

"Naw...I didn't get it. They went with some commercialized pool cleaning business. Can you believe that shit? I drove all the way over here and still didn't get the shit." he responded trying to deflect the situation. "We needed that business, babe." he added causing her to realize this was a perfect time to mention her move towards her singing career.

"Well, you know I've been thinking about furthering my singing career and..."

"Babe, not this shit again. Babe, I really don't need this right now with everything else I have going on. Can't you just be a mother and a wife?"

"I am a mother but I am not a wife! Remember?" Mercedes reminded him. Although he never asked her they've both danced around the subject before. It never went past the entertaining conversations.

"Look, can we talk about this when we get home?" Puck asked just as she arrived at her destination then parked near the mailbox with the address on it. She stared at the door and sighed before hanging up the phone. She needed to stop waiting around for shit to happen and start making them happen for herself. She stepped out of the car and walked by Sam's car which was parked next to another car. She thought about heading back to her since he obviously had company but stopped when the door opened.

"Uh...hi there." Mercedes said as her eyes fell upon the petite blonde woman. Mercedes looked down at her cellphone then at the address on the mailbox. "I think I might have the wrong address."

"Who were you looking for?" she asked as she dragged her luggage in front of her but stood between the door and herself. She gave Mercedes a once over then looked behind her as she edged the door closer behind her.

"Sam...Sam Evans." Mercedes looked at the woman and finally started to put two and two together. She looked just like a smaller version of Quinn Fabray and if memory served her right, Sam used to be head over heels over Quinn. "You know what...forget it. Sorry to have bothered you." Mercedes said as she turned to step back to her car.

"You're Mercedes Jones, aren't you?" she asked causing Mercedes to turn. "I've heard about you...from Sam and...around..." she smiled before leaning on the door and crossing her arms.

"Around?"

"I think I heard you sing at the Shack." she smiled. "What are you doing in a town like this with a voice like that?" Kitty asked as she looked behind her then back at Mercedes.

"I guess I love Lima." Mercedes responded then turned back to her car. "Tell Sam I came by...actually...don't...I don't even care." she walked back to her car and jumped in before driving off.

* * *

Sam stepped out the door and noticed Kitty driving off and then another car hitting the corner. He recognized the car as being Mercedes' car and knew that she'd talked to Kitty. Who knew what she said to her. Sam quickly grabbed his keys and jumped into his car before trying to follow her. A few minutes later, he realized that he'd lost her. He slammed his hands on the steering wheel and pulled over on the side of the road to think. He wanted to be the one to tell her about Kitty. Her finding out was not a good thing and she needed to know the truth. Or else she was going to hate Sam and never continue with the trip to Memphis. He called her phone but it went straight to voicemail. He decided to go to the one place he knew she would go in the hopes that she actually didn't go home.

"I screwed up!" Sam shouted to no one as he pulled up into the parking lot and drove around till he saw her car then pulled up next to it. She was still sitting inside of her car as he jumped out and made his way towards her. She glared at him as tears filled her eyes. Sam reached for the door and opened it before apologizing. "I'm sorry..."

"You're always sorry, Sam! Close my damn door!" Mercedes said between gritted teeth as she reached for the door but Sam stood between the door and her.

"Please...let me explain..."

"Explain what?" she asked. "What are you going to explain? Huh? You want to just tell me a bunch of bullshit so that I can trust you again? How many times are you going to lie to me?"

"I...I didn't lie to you...I just..."

"You just had a girlfriend all this time while you've been pursuing me since you got back? Did I get it, right?" Mercedes asked as she reached for the door. "Can you move...I need to close my door."

"We need to talk about this."

"No...we actually don't." Mercedes responded as she looked up and blinked a couple times. "I'm sorry." she said as she looked over at him. "I have no right to be mad at you for having a girlfriend."

"Mercedes..." Sam said as he stepped closer to her. "I...should have told you about her. I broke up with her...several times...but she...she just..."

"Stop Sam."

"I should have told you about her." Sam added. "I was a coward and thought that I could just sweep her under the rug and we'd be fine." Sam watched as she stared out before looking over at him and shaking her head.

"Can you close my door, please?" she asked as she continued to blink away her tears. Sam stood firmly knowing he was not about to lose her over this. Not over Kitty. Not today.

"Please." Sam stated as she glared his way then turned her car off before grabbing the keys out of the ignition.

"Fine...I'll just walk." she said as she jumped out of the car and tried to walk away till Sam grabbed her hand. "Let go of me."

"I can't let go of you."

"You had no problem doing it back in '09."

"I had no control of that Mercedes. You know that."

"Whatever." she rolled her eyes. "Let me go." she demanded again then smiled when Sam slowly let go of her arm. She began walking away then out of nowhere she stopped and turned to look at him. "Why her?"

"Who Kitty?"

"You left me and ignored me for years but her..." she paused and shook her head. "You traveled across state lines with her. For her?

"Not for her...for you..."

"Why her? Huh?" she stepped back towards Sam waiting for him to answer. "Why not me? Why didn't you come back for me sooner? Why didn't you just come back? Without her."

"Mercedes, she means nothing to me. Compared to you...she's nothing. I swear it. Everything I do...everything I've been doing since I left was to get me back here. It took me a while and I'm sorry...I say that a lot but I am sorry. I just wanted to come back and not be in the position where I have to lose you again." he explained as he stepped closer to her. She stepped back till her back hit his car. "I don't know what else I have to do to show you that you're it for me. No matter who I'm with or what I am doing...it means nothing if it's not with you." he added till he was within kissing distance of her.

"Sam..." she said softly as she stared into his eyes. Sam could tell that she wanted to move and he also knew that she wanted to kiss him as well. He knew that this was the last chance he would have to kiss her and he was going to go for it. He smiled when she closed her eyes and inched up causing their noses to rub gently as he went in for the kill. "Sam...I'm with Puckerman." she said causing Sam to stop and step back. "I'm not going to cheat on him." she said as if she were telling herself more than she was telling Sam.

"He's probably cheating on you." Sam stated then immediately regret it as she stared back at him then nodded.

"Yes...you might be right but I am still in a relationship with him and until I'm not...I need you to respect that. Okay?" she asked then waited for him to respond. He looked at her and knew that she would never talk to him again if he couldn't respect her decision. And the last thing he wanted was to push her further into Puck's arms.

"So...can we go back to the studio and get started?" he asked then smiled when she looked at him with confusion. "That's why you came by, right?"

"No funny business?"

"I promise."

"No more secrets?"

"None from me...you?"

"I've never hid anything from you."

* * *

 **Hey everyone! Thanks for returning and reading. I appreciate y'all even those that don't review. I see y'all reading and I thank you.**

 **Mercedes told Sam that she wouldn't cheat. And Puckerman didn't go out of town with Lauren. Do you think he's cheating with someone else? Someone kind of figured out who in the reviews from last chapter I think. lol**

 **To the reviews:**

 **No Mercedes won't lose a lot of weight...she doesn't need to but she needs to get her confidence back and she will. She also does most of her thinking while working out.**

 **Santana doesn't want Mercedes to be with Sam because she remembers how hurt she was when he left so she just feels if she stays with Puck that she wouldn't run back to Sam.**

 **Someone said, two wrongs don't make a right...but it don't make a left either lol...just letting you know shits going to happen lol jk or am I...**

 *****stay tuned*****


	9. Chapter 9

**Life Goes on Daydreamers**

* * *

A week had gone by since that day. Now Sam and Mercedes met up at his place to work on her music for at least in hour before he'd have to head out to teach his art classes at the school. Each morning he would eagerly wait for her to arrive then they would spend that hour brainstorming how to make the song fit their vision. Sam felt he found the perfect song to show off her talent but Mercedes said she needed to add herself to it. And he had to admit he loved that idea. He would sit on the opposite side of the studio and just stare at her in awe. She seemed happier and smiled a lot more and he knew it was because she was following her dream. He hated when their hour was up but at times he found himself looking forward to it because then he got to hug her goodbye. They would walk over to her car and linger in front of it talking about their plans for the next day then eventually fall quiet. Sam would always make the first move to hug her. He always wanted to kiss her but he could already tell that she would not let that happen so instead he would kiss on the cheek softly each time. And each day the kiss would linger on her cheek longer than the last. He smiled as he daydreamed about it when he heard his name being said repeatedly till he snapped back into reality.

"Mr. Evans! Earth to Mr. Evans!" he heard Samyra say as she waved her hands in front of him then giggled when he blinked at her several times. "Anybody in there?" she asked before giggling again.

"Oh hey, Samyra, are you finished with your work?" he asked as she handed him her drawing that he had assigned to the class. Like most days she was the first to complete it and always the one to perfect it. "This is awesome, Samyra!"

"Thanks, Mr. Evans." she smiled then focused in on him. "Were you just daydreaming? My mom says I do that a lot. And she's right! I love daydreaming. It's when I see most of my drawings come to life and I just can't help myself. My dad doesn't like when I'm daydreaming. He says their for weirdos but my mom says there's nothing wrong with dreaming as long as you wake up and make it your reality, ya know." she rambled on. "I like daydreaming some other times because I've noticed my daydreams are funner than my real dreams." she paused and looked at Sam as he smiled at her then leaned forward. "What were you daydreaming about?" she asked. Sam knew there was no way he would ever tell her that he was daydreaming about kissing her mother so instead he changed the subject.

"I wasn't daydreaming. I was going over this weeks plans in my head." he replied then reached into his bag and pulled out a booklet. "I did, forget to give you this though." he smiled as he handed her over the booklet he bought for her over the weekend. "It's an empty comic book booklet." he explained as she flipped through the pages with a bright smile on her face. "I want you to create your own comic book. You gotta make it look real though, okay? Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, I can. This is awesome, Mr. Evans." she smiled just as the bell rang.

"Alright everyone who didn't finish their assignment, you can turn it in as homework on Monday! Enjoy your weekend!" he shouted to the students as they all assembled at the door to leave. He smiled at Samyra as she clutched the booklet to her chest as if it were the best thing he'd ever given her. He wasn't sure why the thought went through his mind but he found himself wishing that she were his child with Mercedes. Puck had everything he ever dreamed of having with Mercedes and he had no one to blame but himself for not returning to Lima sooner. He would have had the money he needed to come back sooner if he didn't have to support his entire family. And just as that thought passed through, he received a call from his parents. "Hey mom, how are things?" he was afraid to ask that loaded question because it usually lead to them asking for money or even worse, for him to return.

"Sammy, hey, how is Lima treating you?" he heard his father shout from behind his mother.

"Yeah, when can we come visit you or when are you coming to visit?" his mother asked getting straight to the point. For some odd reason they always acted as if they couldn't survive without him.

"Things are great. I'm doing what I love and things are...looking good."

"That's good, son. We are so proud of you." he heard his mother say then the sound of his father telling her to ask him something. He always made his mother ask and he always thought he was whispering when he definitely wasn't. Sam got up and closed the classroom door then prepared himself for whatever his mother was about to ask him. "What's going on, mom?"

"Well, your father and I were wondering if you could swing by for the weekend. We haven't seen you since you left and you don't really call. So we...we miss you. The twins have been asking about you too. I mean, I'm your only mother, Sam. I may not be the best but I am all you have and you act like you couldn't wait to get away from us..." she continued to whine. Sam removed the phone from his ear and sighed. This was normally how the conversation would go which is why he avoided calling, but she was right. And she wouldn't stop till he agreed to coming over.

"Okay, mom, I will take a trip up there. I was planning on coming to Memphis anyway. I was only going to surprise you all."

"Aww that's great, Sammy! I messed up the surprise, didn't I?" she asked.

"It's no big deal I was thinking of doing it this weekend with a friend of mine, if you don't mind." Sam hadn't run that by Mercedes yet but he was hoping that she would say yes and kill two birds with one stone.

"Oh Sammy, yes bring Kitty along. We have no issues with the girl."

"Uh...Mom...Kitty and I broke up."

"Again?"

"This time for good. I am bringing another friend with me. Mercedes. You remember her from Glee Club. I went to Prom with her before we left Lima." Sam knew his parents knew all about her. They pretended they didn't know about Sam dating Mercedes. They pretended that they didn't know she was the reason that he was mad about leaving Lima. They knew she was the reason he returned but they pretended as if they didn't.

"Mercedes...she rings a bell, I think." his mother lied. "Honey, you remember the girl Sam went to prom with from that glee club in Lima?" she asked his dad. Sam wished he could see the look on his father's face because he knew they would tell him everything he needed to know. Sam thought for a while that they didn't know he was dating Mercedes when they left Lima but one night he overheard his parents arguing about him. He heard his father tell his mother that Sam would eventually get over Mercedes and that it was puppy love. From that moment, he was determined to get back to her. For the promise he made to her and to prove to his parents that it was more than puppy love.

"Didn't he go with that jewish girl with the two homo dads?" he heard his father ask then the sound of his mother smacking his father on the arm as she usually did when he was inappropriate.

"He had two girls for prom. Didn't you, Sammy?"

"Anyway, mom, I'm bringing Mercedes with me. So..." Sam trailed off. He heard a door shut then complete silence on the other end of the phone. "We have a meeting with an exec up there and she agreed to come with me."

"You finally got her back didn't you, son?" she asked finally. Sam could hear the smile on her face as she asked that. He wasn't sure how to answer that without saying that she had already moved on so he allowed her to keep her assumptions. "I knew you really loved her. And I can't wait to meet the girl that made you into the man you are today."

"Thanks, mom, I think you'll really love her." Sam said with a smile on his face.

"I can't wait, Sammy." Sam smiled as they hung up the phone. He prayed that Mercedes would come along with him with no issues. He prayed that everything went well. He wasn't too worried about his mother but he was definitely worried about his father. He had no plans for them to stay at the house with them so he quickly went online to make a reservation at a hotel near by. He knew he was jumping the gun but he was also hoping he wouldn't have to sleep there alone. If things went well the meeting would go off without a hitch, meeting his parents will go even better then they would return to the hotel. Now all he had to do was ask Mercedes. He quickly sent her a text about it then waited for her response nervously.

* * *

Mercedes stared at the text message for what felt like eternity as she sat across from Santana and Brittany at their house. She wished she could discuss it with her friends but she already knew what they would say. Santana already expressed her hate for Sam for leaving Lima the way he did even though it wasn't his fault and Brittany just agreed with Santana most of the time. And she could see it all as she told them about her run-in with Lauren at the gym. She told them about everything that Lauren said and that she agreed with Lauren but Santana did not at all.

"Look, Aretha, Lauren and I fought over Puckerman junior year too, if you remember?" Santana asked as she looked between them. "And if you remember, I mopped the floor with her Shamu ass. She has nothing on you, girl. Don't let her take your man like she did to me."

"Didn't Lauren mop the floor with you, babe?" Brittany asked as Santana glared her way then shook her head in denial. Mercedes remembered hearing how Santana got her tail whooped all the way to Lima heights adjacent then lied about beating Lauren up hoping the rumor would spread.

"I am not fighting no chick over no man! Lauren was right. My issue is with Puck and not Lauren." Mercedes responded. She tried to ask Puck about the Lauren issue but he denied it and changed the subject again. She wanted to wait till he was at work one day and just pack up and leave but she just couldn't do that to Myra. She loved her dad so much. She would die if Myra decided to hate her for it all.

"So what are you going to do? Start fawning over Big lip Evans again?"

"What's your issue with Sam anyway?"

"Look, I may be a bitch but if you do my girl wrong I hate you for ever. I don't care if you forgive him. He left you and I was left to pick up the pieces. At least Puck stuck around and provides for you and Myra. Where was Sam, huh? Shaking his goodies for a dollar menu nugget...that's where."

"Babe." Brittany said trying to calm Santana down. Mercedes hated that she blurted out that Sam was stripping in Memphis but she really thought that was a redeeming factor when she said he did it for his family. Santana didn't see it that way and she seemed to focus only on the negatives of what Sam did instead of the positive. "Mercedes, maybe Santana has a point..."

"Of course, you'd say that. You always agree with her." Mercedes cut her off and stood to leave.

"Mercedes..."

"Let her go run off and make big lip babies with Sam so he can run off and leave her to be a stereotype." Santana said as she crossed her arms and watched as Mercedes grabbed her things and slammed the door behind her. Mercedes knew there was only one person she could talk to that would understand and that was her best friend Kurt Hummel. She hopped in her car and hit Kurt's picture till it began to ring. She still hadn't responded to the text message Sam sent and she knew he was waiting for her to respond. The more time she spent with him the more she wished she were with him instead and she couldn't keep the smile from her face away as she thought of the opportunity to sing for a music exec. She was finally going to follow her dream and she still felt as if she was doing something wrong.

"Kurt Hummel."

"Kurt, I'm going to tell you something and I need you to be completely honest with me." Mercedes said immediately then waited for Kurt to give his normal witty responses.

"And hello to you too, Mercedes."

"Seriously! Promise that you won't tell a soul?"

"Spill it. Mums the word." he replied and waited for Mercedes to let it all out. She pulled out the driveway and took a deep breath before finally telling Kurt about everything that had been happening since Sam returned. Once she was done Kurt didn't say a word for a minute then finally he spoke. "Well...I can't say that I am not happy that you are finally following your dream. I have to say that after all of that I have one question that has been on my mind..."

"Okay...ask me anything." Mercedes replied feeling relieved that she finally told Kurt about everything that had been going on and finally about how she couldn't make her mind up about Memphis.

"Did you have sex with Sam?"

"No...I'm with Puck...of course not...no...no..." Mercedes rambled. "I mean, I've thought about it but...God, I'm with Puck."

"I mean before you were with Puck. Did you have sex with Sam before he left Lima?" Kurt asked causing Mercedes to pause before pulling over on the side of the road. She hadn't told anybody about losing her virginity to Sam. She had always allowed them to believe that Puck took her virginity. "Oh my God! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!"

"Kurt..."

"I had a feeling there was something about Sam that you were holding back." Kurt added with excitement. "Okay...look...go to Memphis with Sam. Sing your flipping heart out and then you'll know where you belong. And trust me, you will see you belong with Sam."

"But Myra..."

"Look, I love my God-daughter and she's a smart cookie. She will see eventually that you're not happy with her dad. She will still love you no matter who you're with and if she sees you following your dreams...she will follow hers." Kurt explained hoping that she wouldn't turn back on her dreams as she has been since high school. "Stop listening to Puckerman. Go to Memphis."

"Okay...I will go to Memphis...but I will need your help."

"Anything for you bestie." Kurt replied with a smile. "But, one last question..."

"What?" Mercedes asked as she started the car again and tried to pull back into traffic.

"How was he in bed?"

"Bye Kurt!" she laughed then hung up the phone. Then called her parents to arrange who would have Myra for that weekend. Her next step was to decide if she would tell Puck about going to Memphis or not. She called his phone and waited for his voice to come through her speakers.

"Hey babe, I was just about to call you."

"Oh yeah? I'm on my way home right now. What's going on?"

"I, uh, have another business meeting this weekend and won't be coming home tonight. I just left the house. I thought you would be there." he replied. She wanted to ask him where he was going but deep down she didn't care. This just made it easy for her to leave for Memphis with Sam.

"Oh okay...good luck...when are you coming back?" she asked instead just as she pulled into the driveway. She heard him say something to whoever was near him and then horribly covering the phone with his hands. "Noah?"

"Uh...yeah, uh...I think Monday...I'll just be gone the weekend. I really need to...get in this new deal I've been trying to get into." he replied. Mercedes wasn't too sure but she could have sworn he sounded as if he was grunting. She marched up to the house and got in before dropping the keys on the counter and sifting through their bills.

"Okay, well have fun. See you then." she replied before hanging up on him. Puck was up to something but she was up to something better and she was not about to let him deter her from it. She continued to look through the bills then noticed two of the bills were past due. She remembered posting payment for it a few weeks ago. She quickly signed into their bank account and noticed that Puck withdrew a large sum of money from the bank accounts and never told her. She tried calling him again but he didn't answer so she sent him a text about it. He quickly replied that he needed the money for the trip and that he would replace it. Mercedes glared at the phone then pulled up Sam's text message. "I have no problem spending the weekend in Memphis with you. We riding out or flying?" she asked him via text. He responded back immediately that they would fly to Memphis. He added that he already paid for their flight later that night as if he knew she'd say yes. She stared at the unpaid bills in front of her then sighed as she made her way to pack both her bags and Myra's. It was time she stopped daydreaming and started to make life happen for herself and her daughter.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing. Next chapter they will be in Memphis. We get to meet the Evans Family. The music Exec...Mercedes gets to perform for him and take the first step towards her dream. Someone will come to Memphis to help Mercedes.**

 **Jujubee- I think Mercedes will be listening to you soon lol**

 **WhoknowsTv- I love ur reviews lol**

 **and yes to those that wonder Kitty will be back and she is up to no good.**

 **And as for Puck we will soon find out what he's been up to and why he really needed that money.**


	10. Chapter 10

Mercedes was beyond nervous when she made it to her parents with her daughter. She knew they would have questions, but she wasn't sure what she would tell them. They asked if Puck was going along or if she was traveling with Santana and Britt, she hated to lie to them but she allowed them to believe in the latter. She figured if Puck came buzzing around they would just say that she was with Santana in Memphis and prayed he didn't ask Santana. She could have just been honest with everyone but she was tired of hearing what every felt she should do. She figured she would deal with the backlash after meeting the exec. And the only opinion she really cared about belonged to the pair of eyes that were staring back at her as she fought to stay awake.

"Myra, I need you to behave for nana and pop-pop, okay?" Mercedes smiled as she tuck her in. "I will be back to pick you up Sunday night when I get back from the airport."

"The airport? Where are you going? Is dad going with you?" she asked as Mercedes sat on the bed and smiled at her. She wished Puck was as supportive of her career choice as Sam was but there was no way she was going to get into that with her child.

"No, your father had a meeting somewhere else." she replied. Mercedes stared at her daughter and hated that she never had the courage to follow her dreams before. Now she had to lie and sneak, when she could have proudly boasted about meeting a music exec to her own daughter. "You know I love you, right?"

"Yes, mom."

"And you're my favorite baby in the whole world, right?"

"Mom, I'm your only baby in the world."

"Out of all the baby's in the world, you're my favorite." Mercedes smiled and booped her nose. "Just know that everything that I do...you're my motivation."

"I know, Mom. I love you too!" Samyra responded before leaning forward to hug her. Mercedes felt her phone buzz with a message from Sam stating that he was on his way and felt her tummy do a somersault.

"Alright I gotta get going..." she smiled and stood then paused when she noticed what looked like a comic book with Samyra's name on it. She picked it up and looked at the first page and smiled noticing she'd drawn something on the first page. "Where'd you get this from, baby girl?"

"Oh, Mr. Evans gave it to me. He says that I have talent." she beamed with pride. "I only got it today so I haven't filled it up yet."

"What you've done so far is great already. What inspired you to draw this character?" Mercedes asked as she looked at the image of a girl posing with a microphone.

"That's you, mom." she jumped up with excitement. "I plan to add more characters like those X-men characters. I think I have another character I want to create with the ability to make dreams turn to reality. And she is going to meet him so that he can make her singing dreams a reality." Mercedes smiled as Samyra talked a mile a minute about her new comic book idea. Mercedes could tell she was excited about this and she wanted to hear all about it but she needed her to go to bed.

"Alright, baby, keep drawing. I can't wait to see it when I return Sunday." Mercedes said before placing a kiss on her forehead then stepping out.

* * *

Sam picked Mercedes up at her parents' house and felt as if he was going down memory lane. He stared at the spot where he first realized they had something between them. It was there when Mercedes first curved him when he tried to kiss her after they'd talked for hours. He remembered how he knew he had to kiss her before he lost all his courage. He was deep in thought when their front door opened and Mercedes stood at the doorway. He wanted to meet her at the door but Mercedes told him to wait for her because she didn't want to go into it with her parents. So he waited and watched as she spoke to her parents then closed the door. Moments later, he watched as she made her way over with her luggage. He quickly jumped out of the car to assist her then they both got in the car. Once they were both inside, Sam noticed that she looked a bit nervous.

"I can't believe we're finally going to make this happen." Sam said as he started the car then looked over at Mercedes as she slowly fastened her seat belt. "I spoke with my friend about our meeting with the exec tonight and he said that they couldn't wait to see you perform." she looked at him and forced a pressing smile his way before looking back out the window. "Hey...are you okay? Are you having second thoughts?" Sam asked as he reached over to touch her hand. "I can reschedule the meeting if you think this is too soon or..."

"No...no...don't reschedule. I'm ready for this." she smiled and squeezed his hand back. "Let's do this!"

"You sure?" Sam asked even though inside he was begging that she didn't back out of this. He did a lot to make this happen for the both of them. And although he did most of this for Mercedes, his future as a producer was relying on all of this going well. And going to Memphis with her was bound to get them closer and he really wanted that as well.

"Yes...I'm sure. This is our dream." Mercedes responded with a genuine smile. "Where will we be staying while we are there? I need to let my parents know just in case." she pulled out her phone and began to text.

"I booked us a room at the Marriott in Downtown Memphis." Sam responded with pride. He spent a lot on this mini trip and felt the most pride at booking this hotel for them. He was used to staying at Motels and he just felt this was a step up. "And don't worry, I got the room with a pull-out sofa which I will sleep on."

"Sam, you didn't have to do that."

"Trust me, yes I did." Sam thought about them staying at their parents and knew it would be a horrible idea. Last thing he wanted was his father to say something and ruin things with Mercedes for good.

"Well, I will pay you back. I promise."

"Sing your heart out tonight and that will be payment enough." Sam responded as he jumped on the highway.

* * *

They arrived in Memphis in record time. The entire flight they talked as if they had no worries in the world. Sam didn't think of seeing his family the next day and Mercedes didn't worry about her issues with Puck. They were in their moment and preparing for the night of their lives. Once they arrived at the hotel, Mercedes told Sam that she would meet him at the night club. Sam wanted to arrive there with Mercedes by his side but she insisted that it was going to take more than just an hour for her to get ready. The minute he left she called Kurt to see where he was.

"Are you near?"

"Yes, I just saw Sam leave and I'm on the way to your room now." Kurt responded and then within seconds she heard him knocking on the door. Mercedes was beyond nervous about tonight but what she was about to do had her nerves even more wacked out. She felt she needed a change and Kurt was going to help her get that change she needed.

"Kurt, I am so happy you were able to make it. There's no way I would be able to do this." Mercedes said as she opened the door and hugged Kurt. She stepped aside as Kurt and his team stepped inside.

"Mercedes, come on, I would never let you do this without me and my team. We have everything that you will need for tonight." Kurt said as he gestured for his team to come in. "Come on guys we have to get her done before eleven when she has to be on stage."

"Yes, please! I want to be fierce but I want to be fiercely on time too." she added with a smile as she watched them set up.

"Soooo...all I see is one big bed in here. Are you two already..."

"No...that's a sofabed...so calm down Kurt and focus." she playfully swatted him. "Let's deal with my hair first. I want something jaw dropping and different. What do you have in mind?"

"Don't worry, Diva! I've got the right look for you. When you step on the stage you're going to give them all a whiplash. And Sam, he'll wish he never left Lima to begin with." Kurt replied as he softly pushed her into the bathroom area. "Come on, let's get you fierce bitch!"

* * *

Sam on the other end was running around getting everything ready but before he could meet up with the exec he had to stop by his parents. This was one of the reasons he wished Mercedes was coming with him but he figured she would meet them during dinner the next night. This would at least give him time to ensure that they didn't embarrass him with Mercedes standing near him. He was only going to be there for a quick minute before heading to the club to meet with the exec and see Mercedes perform the song they'd been working on.

"Sammy!" he heard his mother say as the door swung open and she quickly wrapped her arms around him. "Look at you." she smiled before kissing his cheek then looking behind him for who he supposed was Mercedes. "Where's your girlfriend?"

"She's at the hotel getting ready for a meeting we have tonight." Sam responded then sighed as he corrected her. "And she's not my girlfriend..."

"But she will be right? That's the point of all this, right?" his mother asked as she stepped aside so that he could come inside. Sam wanted to tell her that he would have done all this even if she chose to stay with Puck but he was interrupted when his brother and sister came running towards him.

"Sammy!" Stacy said as she jumped into his arms and wrapped her arms around him tight. "I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too, Stacy!" Sam said as he hugged her back then paused when he noticed his brother trying to pretend he was too cool to show he missed him. "Sup Stevie!"

"Sup man, mom said you were bringing a chick with you. I was happy to hear it wasn't Kitty but now I see you're here and no cutie with you...really bummed me out man." he admitted before leaning on the wall and crossing his arms. Sam released Stacy then made his way over to Stevie and pulled him in for a hug anyway.

"Whatever, get over here and hug me!" Sam chuckled as Stevie pretended as if he didn't want to hug him. "I missed you and yeah I came alone but tomorrow she will be with me for dinner."

"So who's the new babe?" Stevie asked as they made their way towards the living room where their father was sitting and watching TV.

"It's that girl he took to prom, right mom?" Stacy interjected.

"The one with the two dads or the black girl?"

"Sammy boy, you're back!" his father said causing Sam to glare his way. There were days where Sam wished his parents would divorce and his father would just move away. But he knew his father was never going to put himself in a situation where he had to fend for himself.

"Yeah Dad...for a lil bit."

"Guess you'll get your old room back there huh? I made it my office since you've been gone."

"Office? You work from home now? For what company?" Sam asked in shock as he looked over to his mother who tried her hardest not to look his way. He never thought he'd see the day where his father would work for a legit company that allowed him to work from home.

"Oh no...it was just something I started when I lost my job at the warehouse. There's still your old bed in there, for those days where I get tired of running through ideas. I take quick naps." he continued to ramble but Sam tuned him out as he could already tell what his room had become. It was now his dad's nap room. Sam was happy he booked the hotel room now. "So where's your little black friend?"

"Mercedes." Sam responded as he pulled out his cellphone to send her a text message. "Her name is Mercedes and she's just fine. She will be with me tomorrow when we come here for dinner."

"Good. I have to see what you like in this girl that you had to go back to Lima for her." his father looked around the room as if everyone would agree with him and when they remained quiet he continued. "You mean to tell me in all these years..."

"Dwight, honey, just hush before Sam doesn't come with her at all." his mother said as she could tell Sam was becoming upset. He was already debating on not bringing her over at all the more his father spoke. Luckily he was saved by a text message from the exec confirming that he was on his way to the club. Sam immediately used that as an excuse to leave.

"Anyway, I have to hit the streets and will be back tomorrow with Mercedes."

"I need to get ready for work too. So I'll walk out with Sam." Stevie said as they both made way towards the door. "I know you wanted to punch his face in, didn't ya?"

"There have been many days where I've wanted to do that." Sam admitted as they stepped out. Sam stopped by his car and noticed Stevie jumping into his. "Nice ride? Is that Mom's?" Sam asked.

"Oh this is actually my car. I just got it a few weeks back." Stevie smiled as he started the car. He really wanted to ask how was he affording it. He figured he would ask more about it during dinner since he didn't have time. "I'll see you tomorrow, bro."

"Alright man." Sam responded and watched as his little brother reversed back. Something was going on there and he was hoping to get into it but for now he needed to get to the club.

* * *

Mercedes was beyond nervous as Kurt helped zip the leather pencil skirt on her. She had never dressed in anything this sexy in her life and when she stepped in front of the mirror she was in shock. Kurt convinced her to cut her hair and she was shocked that she was actually digging it. She couldn't wait to see Sam's reaction when she steps onto the stage with her new look. And she couldn't wait to sing. She kept going over the lyrics over and over as she got ready. She smiled when she received a text message from Sam telling her that she was minutes away from making her dream a reality.

"Was that Sam?" Kurt asked with a smile as he peeked at the text message. "Remember when I thought he was team gay circa 2010?"

"Remember when I said you were insane circa 2010?" she chuckled as she remembered the day Sam walked into her life. "If you would have told me that I would have fallen for him that day I would have tried to prove how insane you were."

"I would have told you that you needed to stop falling in love with gay men and would have been _so wrong_." he sang as he stared at her reflection in the mirror. "You two were made for each other."

"Then why has life thrown everything at us to keep us apart?" Mercedes asked more to herself than to Kurt. "Maybe it's a sign that we aren't meant to be as we think we are?"

"Mercedes. Stop your brain! Your brain has made horrible choices. Listen to me...your new brain...and I am telling you now. Sam and you are perfect! Puck and you are...a disaster!"

"Hey watch it! Puck and I made an angel. We literally made perfection."

"And how sure are you that Puck helped you make that perfection?" Kurt mumbled.

"What?"

"I said nothing." Kurt lied and pushed her towards the door. "Come on, let's go watch you snatch your future by its unmanageable wig."

"Kurt, I swear I love you!" Mercedes smiled and hugged Kurt before they both stepped out of the room then made their way to their Uber downstairs. A few minutes later they were entering the club as a man performed on they stage. They passed right behind the area where Sam was sitting with the exec and snuck backstage. "I can't believe I am about to do this." she said as she wrote her name as the next performer on the stage.

"Well believe it bitch! I will be out in the crowd rooting for you and watching Sam drool for you, then I gotta head back to New York." Kurt said before hugging her. "Snatch their edges, as they say!" Mercedes looked up at the ceiling and prayed silently that she didn't faint or worse puke on stage as she listened to the host announce her name.

"Next, coming to the stage from Lima, Ohio...Ms. Mercedes Jones singing singing an original song called Say Yes." she listened to the sound of the applause and mentally told herself that she could do it. She slowly stepped out onto the stage. The minute her foot stepped onto the stage she transformed into someone she forgot was within her. She was the same Mercedes Jones that used to fight for solos back in Glee Club with an added dose of fierceness and confidence.

Mercedes focused on where Sam sat next to who she figured was the Music Exec. From where she stood and sang he looked as young as they were and she couldn't tell if he was digging her voice or not. But Sam, on the other hand, he looked as if he had never seen her sang before. She almost forgot that she had a make over as she continued to seductively sing the song and wink his way. "And if I ever ask you hoooooo...just say yes! Say yes to me...say yes so we can have forever. And we will be together. Say yes to me...Say yes to me...Say yes to us..."

* * *

Sam kept looking around trying to see when Mercedes arrived. He'd spent the last few minutes talking business with Brody. So the minute she got on stage, he couldn't believe his eyes. She looked amazing! From the bold haircut to the skin tight leather skirt she was wearing that topped off with a crop top, Sam had never seen her like this. He looked over to Brody and beamed with pride. This was her moment and she was using every minute of it to showcase her vocal range.

"She's amazing, right?" Sam asked once she was done.

"She's got some pipes on her. Where'd you find her?" Brody asked. Sam wanted to tell him that she was the love of his life but instead he focused on pushing her talent.

"We were in a Glee Club together in high school." Sam responded before leaning in. "Lemme tell you, the first time I heard her sang I was beyond shocked. She sang for this duet contest that the club was having and didn't win."

"She didn't win? Your Glee club must have been truly talented."

"Between us, I think the shit was rigged to be quite honest. She was by far the most talented and versatile out of the group."

"So...why hasn't she gotten a record label yet?"

"Look, she's from a small town in Ohio. They don't have the opportunities that they have here in Memphis with the music scene. I have been working with her in the studio and feel she's ready." Sam felt he'd said enough and Mercedes' singing was everything he knew it would be and more. He wasn't sure if his mind was playing tricks on him but he could have sworn he saw Kurt towards the back of the club.

"Hmmm, well I can't argue with you on that. She definitely has star power and the look that's definitely in today." Brody smiled. "Do you think she would object to moving here in Memphis to get the ball rolling?" Sam was so excited that he didn't even think that Mercedes would object to the idea of moving to Memphis. All of his thoughts vanished when he saw her walking over to them with a broad smile on her face.

"Let me introduce you to her." Sam stood and smiled as she stepped closer to them. Sam could wait to tell her how great she was. "Mercedes, you were amazing!"

"Thank you, Sam!" she smiled shyly as she looked over to Brody.

"Brody, I would love to introduce you to Ms. Mercedes Jones." He stood back as Brody stood and took Mercedes' hand. "Mercedes, this is Brody Weston from Island Beat Records."

"Sam has told me amazing things about you before you hit the stage, but I have to say he tried his best to do you justice."

"Only because there are no words that could describe what you just did on that stage, Mercedes."

"Thanks, Sam." she blushed. "So what does that mean for me and Island Beats?" Mercedes asked going in straight for the kill.

"It means, we will definitely be in touch." Brody smiled and then turned to Sam. "I will call and make the arrangements for you both to come by the office so we can talk business."

* * *

The minute Brody left, Mercedes jumped into Sam's arms. She couldn't believe that they were really about to make their dreams come true. And she had no one to thank but Sam. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. She felt so at home in his arms that she almost lost herself as she stared into his eyes and felt herself inching closer to him. She was inches from kissing him when she finally realized what she was doing and stepped back.

"Thank you so much for tonight, Sam."

"We had a promise that we had to keep...and I intended to make sure we kept it." Sam said before stepping back as well. They remained at the club to watch the other acts before finally making their way back to the hotel. Mercedes immediately made her way over to the bed to remove the heels from her feet and began to rub them.

"These were cute as hell on my feet but I am going to kill Kurt for making me wear them."

"I knew I saw Kurt at the club!" Sam exclaimed as he took his jacket off and sat next to her on the bed before taking her foot into his hands. He began massaging her feet as if it were something regular and common for them. "Why didn't he stick around and party with us?"

"You know Kurt Hummel doesn't stay nowhere too long." Mercedes said with an exaggerated Posh accent before letting out a satisfying moan. "My God, Sam! That feels awesome." she said as she leaned back and closed her eyes. She was floating on cloud nine when Sam finally spoke and made her open her eyes.

"You were amazing tonight." he smiled at her. She smiled shyly back then slowly pulled her foot from his hands. She was beginning to enjoy the feel of his hands too much. She needed to calm herself down. This trip was about her singing not getting back with Sam.

"Thanks, Sam, uh...I think I'll go shower for bed. I am getting a bit sleepy." she quickly made her way off the bed pretending she didn't notice the sad look Sam had on his face. She tried to take a lengthy shower in hopes that he would be asleep when she got out but it didn't work. When she got out Sam was just staring out the window. "Hey, you might wanna jump in there. The water in there felt so good. I almost forgot I was there." she giggled as she walked out in one of the robes that were inside of the bathroom.

"Yeah, I think I'll take a long shower too...and I guess talk to you in the morning." he said and before she could respond he brushed past her and closed the door behind him. He was in the shower for a while himself and unfortunately, Mercedes couldn't fall asleep. She could feel that she had upset him and after everything that he'd done for her she felt that would have been rude of her. She scrolled through Facebook until he came out and when he did he seemed shocked that she was up. He walked over to the sofa and started pulling it out before dropping down on it and turning over.

"Sam?" Mercedes peeked up to see if he would look her way. From where she was she could see his eyes were closed but she knew he wasn't sleeping yet. "Are you awake? I can't seem to sleep." she continued to look over to see if he'd open his eyes but he didn't so she got up and walked over to where he was and began to poke him. "Sam?" she poked him again and finally he opened his eyes. "Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure." he finally responded and sat up. Mercedes stood over him then turn back over to the bed and pulled over the sheets before patting next to her. "You want me to come over there?"

"Just for a bit." she smiled shyly then it broadened when Sam slowly got up and made his way to the opposite side of the bed. "Just until we get sleepy."

"Okay." Sam replied as he lied down next to her as stiffly as possible. She wanted to laugh but she knew he was only being this way because she made things awkward. She hated that she didn't know how to be with him anymore. Back in 2009, they would lay in bed all day on Mercedes' bed and talk til Sam had to sneak out the window to go home. She chuckled at the memory causing Sam to look her way. "What's so funny?"

"You lying their stiff as a corpse." she replied before poking him in his ribs causing him to jerk away. He reached over and poked her back causing her to giggle and pull away from him.

"If memory serves me well, you're more ticklish than I am. Do you want to start this war?" Sam asked as his finger threatened to tickle her again.

"No...no...no Sam, you win. I surrender." she giggled again causing him to laugh with her till they both fell silent again. They both just stared off at the ceiling wondering what the other was thinking before Sam broke the silence.

"So...uh...tomorrow night, my parents are having a thing and wondering if you wouldn't mind coming along. My mom's making her famous meatloaf." Sam continued. "They've been looking forward to meeting you since...like prom night..." he chuckled then looked over at her waiting for her to respond.

"Oh...you mean like your mother and father?" she sat up and pulled her foot away from him.

"I think...unless I was adopted...which by tomorrow will see would be a blessing." Sam chuckled again as Mercedes thought it over. She was already there in Memphis and she always wanted to meet his parents to see if everything Sam told her about them were true.

"I see no reason why I shouldn't."

"Cool, hopefully by then I hear from Brody and then we can head back to Lima." he responded as they fell silent again. Mercedes mind was racing as she tried to think how to break the news to Puck that she would pursue her dream. When she got back to Lima they would need to have a big discussion about their finances and future together. And of course she would need to talk to Samyra about it all. "Are you having second thoughts?"

"No...this is my dream. Our dream." she added with a smile before reaching over to hold his hand. "I just wonder how do I move forward with the way my life is now to fit the dream I had then."

"Just make some adjustments. I had to make a couple." he smiled. "The way I saw us reaching our dreams we were together but life happened so I adjusted." he looked down at their hands and held hers tighter. "Long as we do this together...we will be okay." Mercedes looked over at him and smiled before nodding with him.

"You're right!" she replied. "We got this, right?"

"Yeah we do! And Samyra will be proud of you when she sees you on a stage."

"Speaking of Samyra, I can't get her to stop talking about you. You seem to have left a lasting impression on her."

"Well she's as talented as you with your singing so I feel I have to push her to follow her dreams just like I plan to push you." Sam said then slowly released her hand. She smiled at him then leaned her head on his shoulder as her eyes slowly began to close.

"Thanks for being there for me, Sam." she mumbled before falling asleep.

A few hours had passed when Sam woke up to see that they had both fallen asleep on the bed. He looked down to see Mercedes head was still nestled on his shoulder while his own had possibly fallen right on top of hers. He didn't even remember when they fell asleep but he never wanted to move again but he also wanted to cover her. He looked down at how peaceful she was sleeping and decided to take the chance with the covers. He reached down and pulled the covers slightly then stopped when she began to squirm then nestled into him. Sam stared down at her and couldn't help himself when he placed a kiss on her forehead. That seemed to have been all that was needed to wake her up as she looked up at him. Sam wasn't sure what her reaction would be and was shocked when she smiled at him then inched up to kiss him. The kiss was soft and quick but electrifying all in one. He hadn't felt her lips on his in such a long time he'd almost forgotten how much he loved them. He hesitated the urge to kiss her again because she seemed to have been still asleep. He slowly covered her up then slid out of the bed and made his way to the sleeper sofa. As much as he wanted to kiss her again he couldn't do it knowing she wasn't fully aware of his presence. He couldn't sleep the rest of the night as he tried to think of ways to ask her about the kiss once they were both awake and aware. Hopefully it didn't make things awkward for them the rest of the trip.

* * *

 **Hello is anybody out there? Anyway, I am sorry this took so long to update. I was going to update a few weeks back but then I got some bad news over something I had been anxious about and it ruined my entire life. ( over exaggeration but I felt so bummed) anyway...this chapter is longer than usual because I felt bad and it would have been longer but I decided to separate the first night in Memphis and leave the other half in the next chapter. The Evans' family dinner needs it's own chapter lol.**

 **So if you all are still reading...what do you think of the Evans' so far? And Samcedes first night together? Next Chapter Mercedes will reach out to someone for help and come clean...u can guess who lol (that was supposed to all be in this chapter lol)**

 **Reviews: Lamimi- her full confrontation with Puck is coming and it is going to be a truth bomb drama fest lol**

 **Allie: Mercedes mentioned Puck getting Quinn pregnant and then her becoming pregnant the following year in the early chapters**

 **Cherica: Sam's dad is ignorant. He has no filter. You will see more of it next.**

 **Mzdoodlesaunt: No Comment lol**

 **And everything else that was said about PUCK has me laughing. Whoknowstv u were right about a few things.**

 **Till next time**


	11. Chapter 11

_Mercedes couldn't believe that they were about to have sex. After all this time they finally found the courage. They'd flirted and danced around it for so long and they were finally going to do it. She was nervous and as they kissed she could tell that Sam was pretending as if he wasn't nervous too. He'd done so much to make that night special for the both of them and she loved him for it. He was always trying to make her happy._

 _"Are you sure?" Sam asked as he stared into her eyes. She nodded with pure nervousness and wasn't even sure if he saw her nod. He kissed her lips once again then stood up and fiddled with his pockets searching for his condoms that he'd brought with him. He finally pulled one out and smiled her way as he tried to tear it open. Mercedes smiled as she watch him struggle with it._

 _"Do you want me to open it for you?"_

 _"No...uh...I got it!" he replied before placing the edge in his mouth and ripped it open. "Ugh!" he frowned. "This stuff is disgusting." he replied as she giggled at him._

 _"Did you rip it?"_

 _"I don't think so." He quickly undressed and smiled at her before tossing his shirt at her. She took in how sculpted his body was then allowed her eyes to slowly take in his full nudity. He was fully erect and it had to have been the peachiest thing she'd ever seen. He noticed her looking at it and smirked at her before sitting on the edge of the bed to put on the condom._

 _"You...you want help with that?" Mercedes asked as she tried to see what he was doing. He shook his head as he fiddled with the condom._

 _"No...uh..." he looked at her and forced a smile on his face. "I think I got it." she peeked at what he was doing and it didn't look at at all as if he got it at all. "You know, Ms. Holiday made this look a whole lot easier in class." he chuckled. Mercedes remembered how Ms. Holiday came to teach them the proper way to use a condom and opted to use a cucumber. She explained that she couldn't get Principle Figgins to okay her using a dildo or a vibrator within the school walls._

 _"Ms. Holiday made it hard for me to eat a cucumber." she added then took a deep breath when Sam stood up with the condom on and walked her way. "We're doing this, huh?" she asked as she slowly took off her panties then covered herself with the blanket._

 _"We can stop whenever you want to stop." Sam reassured her before getting under the covers himself. She shook her head and forced a smile on her lips as he positioned himself between her legs. She watched as he looked down between her legs then back at her. "It will be hard...but I'll stop whenever you want me to stop."_

 _"Sam, I want you." she responded. "I want this." she added then pulled him down to kiss him tenderly. Sam reached down between her legs and rubbed the inside of her folds with himself. She jolted by the sensation of it but continued to kiss him. They were actually doing it and it felt good. From what she had read online, she was under the impression that it would hurt. "God, that feels good." she whispered against his lips. She wasn't sure that this was all he was waiting for but he slowly allowed the tip to insert her then stopped when she yelped. "Oh shit! Wait...wait...wait...that hurt!"_

 _"Sorry!" Sam quickly pulled himself out of her._

 _"Oh hell no! What was that?"_

 _"That was just the tip, Mercedes." Sam responded. "We can...uh...stop." he grunted as he tried to pull away. Mercedes could tell that he wanted to continue but she could tell that he would stop if she wanted to but she didn't ._

 _"No...I'm ready." she replied pulling him back down to her. She felt him rub against her again before slowly thrusting himself inside of her. She gasped for air and clung to him as she felt her walls expanding to receive him. He looked at her for a brief moment then smiled at her before whispering that he loved her. The first round was over before she could even enjoy it but the look on Sam's face was everything. He looked as if he was on Cloud Nine. He apologized about being quick then slowly kissed his way down her thigh till he was licking inside of her. She held his head and grinded against his face till she quivered. Once she was done, he wiped his lips and pulled out another condom before thrusting inside her once again._

Mercedes jolted awake panting as if she'd just had sex with Sam. She pulled her hand from between her legs and looked over to see Sam wasn't next to her. She sat up and noticed he didn't sleep with her last night. She felt relieved because there was no telling what noises she made after dreaming of her first time with Sam. She reached over and pulled her cellphone out and checked her social pages. She went to Puck's page and noticed nothing was posted as usual. He was never the type to post anything but advertisement for his business. She looked over Santana's page and noticed she was posting subliminal messages towards her about not losing friends over bullshit. She knew that was Santana's way of apologizing and made a note to call her later. In the meantime, she decided to shower then make her way downstairs to grab them some breakfast then call and check on her baby girl.

* * *

Sam woke up with an aching back from the sofa bed and looked up to see that Mercedes was not in her bed. He got up and fixed both beds then made his way into the shower. He needed to have a cold one to keep him from the blue balls he knew he was about to get. He spent most of the night thinking about how he would ask Mercedes about the kiss. Every scenario led to Mercedes calling him crazy and leaving him there alone. And he couldn't deal with losing her again. He figured he would just wait for the right moment to ask her about it. His phone kept vibrating with every message that came in and he knew it was his family. He was on the brink of responding as he stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist just as Mercedes was coming back with their breakfast.

"I...uh..." she paused as she took is body. "...bought us some breakfast from downstairs. They have like a full bar down there." she continued before closing the door behind her and handing him the plate she made for him. "I remembered what you like. Hopefully, nothing has changed."

"Thanks." he smiled. "I...uh..,love the same...things." he paused as she looked at her then tried to change the subject. "Lemme get dressed first."

"Yeah, we don't want your sausage ending up on the table, huh?" she laughed but stopped as if she could tell that he wanted to take her right on the table that she spoke of. "I'll be right here."

"Yeah...you can get started without me." he added before walking over to the bathroom with his clothes then shouted to her from within. "Once we're done, I was thinking I can take you somewhere before heading to my parents house."

"Somewhere like where?" he heard her ask with her mouth full. He smiled as he could just tell how cute she would look trying to cover her mouth as she ate.

"I don't...there's like this fair that I used to work in when I first moved here." Sam responded then emerged from the bathroom placing his Henley shirt on before sitting next to her. "I...uh...remembered how much you loved the fair the last time we went there..."

"Back in high school, Sam." she responded as she sipped her orange juice. Sam thought he would get a different response from her but he continued anyway.

"Yeah. I guess I didn't think it through." he replied as he looked at the plate of food she got him. It was everything he always liked back when they dated. He hadn't changed one bit but she had. She was a mother now and with Puck. And here he was trying to bring her back to high school like some love sick puppy.

"You know what...maybe it will be fun." she replied. "I haven't been to a fair since then, ya know." she confessed with a smile then allowing it to slowly fade. "It was just too hard to be there without you."

"Imagine working there and seeing your face every day."

"How long did you work there?"

"Not long. I worked many places before realizing that stripping was where I was making the most money." he responded before looking her way. "Stevie and Stacy needed shoes for school." He paused before pulling his shirt up to expose his sculpted abs. "These abs paid for em." Sam smiled as her eyes scanned his abs again then looked up at his eyes.

"What else did they pay for?" she asked causing the smile on his face to fade away.

"I did what I had to do for my family." Sam responded before finishing off his plate. "And my family cannot wait to meet you later." he smiled as he quickly changed the subject before pulling out his cellphone. "My mother has sent me millions of text asking me what you like or don't like to eat. She just begged me to tell her that you're not a vegetarian." Sam chuckled as he moved from the table. He could tell that she was not happy with the subject change but she answered anyway.

"You can tell her I love my steak well done and none of the bloody stuff." she responded before following him then leaning against the wall.

"I doubt she'll be cooking steak. We're lucky if it's not spam that we're eating." Sam replied before forcing a smile on his face.

"I guess I'll make sure to fill up at the fair." Mercedes responded with disgust. "Let me get dressed so we can go though." Sam watched as she sashayed away then quickly sent his mother a text to make sure she wasn't cooking anything with spam.

* * *

They arrived at the fair around three that afternoon. Sam was shocked to see how long it took Mercedes to get ready. She was definitely different. She was not high school Mercedes anymore. And when she came out of the bathroom, he saw the same Mercedes that was on the stage the night before. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her as she walked by giving him a nice whiff of her perfume. She changed a lot since high school but one thing never changed; she still smelled great. He had to inhale her intoxication the entire way there and it was killing him that he couldn't lean over and kiss her.

"You smell nice, Jones." Sam said as they stood in line waiting to purchase tickets. She looked over at him and smiled before bumping her shoulder against his.

"You don't smell too bad either, Evans."

"Two all accesses, please." Sam stated before handing his card over. She looked uncomfortable as she watched him pay for their passes. He watched as they strapped the pass wristband on her before placing one on him. "Alright, pretty lady let's get it on." he sang trying to impersonate Barry White.

"You're still good at impressions, I see." she chuckled.

"You still find them funny, I see." he chuckled as well as they walked into the park. "So, what do you wanna ride first?" he asked as he looked around. They continued to peruse and ride on any ride that they came across. Sam was wondering if she was remembering the time they spent at the fair back when they were together. Before the sun had began to go down they were holding hands and Sam was winning games and gifts for her. They were living in the moment.

"Would the lovely couple like a caricature?" the caricaturist asked as many passed by then stopped and looked at Sam and Mercedes as they laughed at an impression Sam had just done. "What about you two lovebirds?" he asked as Mercedes quickly pulled away from Sam.

"Oh...us...we're not..."

"Uh sure." Sam responded cutting Mercedes off as he took her hand again and guided her over to the man. "Come on. It's just one picture." Sam said with a smile till Mercedes finally joined him. "Just one picture."

"Great!" the man said with a smile. "Sit on his lap for this. It will be quick and painless." he smiled as he began grabbing his items and drawing faster than anything Sam ever drawn. He didn't care though. Mercedes was sitting on his lap with her arm around his shoulders and he wanted to live in that moment forever. "Alright, I'm done. Do you want it colored? It will take me another few minutes, if you don't mind waiting."

"Yeah...give it some color." Mercedes responded as she slowly got off Sam's lap and stood near him rubbing her arms up and down.

"You want my jacket?" Sam asked as he stood up and began to remove his jacket then stopped when she placed her hand on his.

"What will you have on if you give me your coat?"

"I have on a sweater and a Henley under here." He replied. "I get cold a lot so I always layer myself up." Sam admitted as he moved closer to her. "Okay how about I warm you up?" he asked as he pulled her closer to him. She nestled into him and allowed him to rub her arms up and down till she began to chuckle. "What?"

"Nothing really, just remembering how Myra is always cold and I'm usually the hot one. She would always nestle up to me like this. I can't even have the air on with her." she chuckled before looking up at him.

"The more I hear about Samyra, the more I like her." Sam chuckled. "She just reminds me of me when I was her age. She's so talented." Sam stated as he looked down at Mercedes. "You and Puck are really lucky to have her."

"Maybe one day, you'll have one." she stated with a smile as they stared into each other's eyes. Sam felt as if she was inching up to kiss him, but stopped when the caricaturist interrupted them.

"Done." he smiled and handed it over to them. Sam and Mercedes both looked at the picture and laughed then joked at the different things that they found funny. "Hope you two lovebirds have a lovely evening." they thanked the man then looked at each other before walking over towards the exit.

* * *

The closer they got to his family's house the more nervous Mercedes became. She'd heard so many things from Sam about his family that she was mentally preparing herself. She told herself that she would just remain quiet and smile once and a while. No matter what would happen she would only reply to simplest questions with the simplest answers. She looked over at Sam and debated asking if he was okay. He looked as if he was just as nervous as she was.

"Here it is." Sam said as they pulled into the driveway of his parents home. The house was still in his name as were all the utilities. He wasn't sure if they were keeping up with paying the bills but they hadn't called him to get money so he was hopeful. He parked his car next to Stevie's then stared at the house as if he didn't want to go inside.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah...uh...Mercedes, are you ready?" he asked as he removed the keys from the ignition then looked her way.

"Sam, stop sounding ominous. We're just going to dinner with your folks not going in to prepare for war." she chuckled as she opened the door and stepped out. Seconds later, Sam and Mercedes were standing at the door ringing the doorbell. She reached over and gave him a comforting squeeze just as the door swung open. A tall slender blonde woman stood at the door with an apron on and a bright smile on her face as she looked between her and Sam.

"My Sammy!" she pulled him in for a big hug then seconds later another version of her came running towards Sam as well and hugged him as well. "This must be Mercedes. Come here, young lady." she said before pulling Mercedes over to her. "I've been cooking all day for ya. Come on in." Sam looked over at Mercedes and smiled as he introduced her to his baby sister and mother.

"And there's my little brother Stevie." Sam said just his little brother stepped out. He looked almost just as Sam did back when they were in high school.

"Sup man, we've been waiting for y'all." Stevie said with the same smirk that Sam normally sported as he hugged his brother then looked over at Mercedes. "You must be Mercedes. Heard a lot about you." he said as he extended his hand towards her. Mercedes took his hand and shook it before scanning the room. Sam noticed her looking around and knew that she was wondering where his father was as he was wondering the same.

"Where's pops?" Sam asked finally as he looked at his mother.

"Oh he's in his work office." she replied. "Come on. Let's go to the dining room and I will go fetch your dad."

"Oh he works from home? What line of work?" Mercedes asked causing Sam's mother to pause before continuing down the stairs to the office. Mercedes looked over at Sam wondering why no one responded and decided to leave well enough alone.

They all gathered around the table and then a few minutes later, Sam's father came up and join them in the dining room. He paused and looked at Mercedes then over at Sam before pulling his chair and sitting down. For a while everyone was talking, laughing then shooting the breeze. Mercedes didn't say much but she laughed every once and a while. Sam's father stared at her as he ate silently and she could feel him staring but she didn't dare look his way.

"What's his problem anyway?" Mercedes thought then stopped when she felt Sam reach over and squeeze her hand. She looked over at him and smiled before sipping her drink.

"Stevie, I been meaning to ask you." Sam turned his attention to his brother. "How much did you pay for that car out there? Better yet, how did you afford it?"

"Stevie's got a good job as a manager at the Dairy Queen." Mary stated with a smile. "Stevie, tell your brother how you came up with the idea to have a twenty-four hour store and they promoted you."

"Well Ma, you already told him." Stevie stated as he shifted in his seat. Sam kept his eyes on Stevie but nodded anyway.

"I see...well you're going to quit to go to college, right?"

"What's the point?"

"I already got accepted to NYU, Sammy." Stacy boasted with pride.

"You want a cookie, Stace?"

"Shut up, Stevie!"

"You're going to college though, right?" Sam asked as he looked over at Stevie. Mercedes nervously looked between Sam and Stevie then looked at their parents as they said nothing.

"What's the point? I'm making good money, Sam. More than you made and I can make more when I finish high school." Stevie stated then shrugged. "Plus mom said it was fine so..."

"Ma, seriously?"

"Look Sammy, your father and I aren't working right now and Stevie has been helping out around here. Your father just felt it would be best if he helped out around here since you left." Mercedes could tell that Sam was pissed as he let go of her hand and glared over at his dad. Silence fell upon the table as Sam continued to glare at his dad who was busy glaring at Mercedes.

"So, Mercedes," Dwight said breaking the silence and turning the attention on her. She wondered why was he so focused on her and not at the fact that Sam was pissed at him at the moment.

"Yes, Mr. Evans?"

"Mercedes, you can call him Dwight-"

"No...she can call me, Mr. Evans."

"Dwight!"

"Let me talk to the girl." he stated then turned his attention back to Mercedes. "You know I've heard a lot about you from my son. He left his family for you..."

"Dad..."

"I was hoping you were something special but you're just some girl next door. But I guess, my opinion doesn't matter. You two are back together" Dwight said.

"We're not together."

"Wait...you brought her here and she's not even with you?" Dwight asked causing everyone to stop eating. "Out of all the chicks in Lima, why didn't you get that cheerleader chick that pretended she was a christian. I know she would have at least taken you back."

"Dad, Mercedes and I are just friends and I didn't leave just to get her back. I went back to work on our music. We met with a music exec last night." Sam stated trying his best to change the subject.

"So, why won't you take Sam back?"

"Dwight!"

"He's not good enough for you?" Dwight asked. Mercedes wanted to punch the old man so bad but she remained calm.

"Dad, if you must know, Mercedes is in a relationship already."

"We have a child together." Mercedes said with a forced smile as she handed a picture of Samyra to Sam's mother. His mother glared at Dwight then took the picture and stared at it for a minute.

"How old is she?" she asked before passing the picture over to Stacy who wasted no time crooning over how adorable she was.

"She'll be nine in the early part of next year." Mercedes said with smile that soon faded away when Dwight began to laugh.

"So not only did you throw away your family for this girl, she's in a relationship and has a child. When were you pregnant? In high school, I bet." Dwight said just the picture reached his way. He looked at the picture for a minute then at Sam and immediately stopped laughing.

"You know what, Mr. Evans, I was going to maintain my respect for you because of Sam, but there's only so much I can take." Mercedes stood. "You guys may allow him to speak to you any kind of way but I won't." she walked over and snatched the picture from him. "First off, I'm not a girl. I'm a woman and secondly, so is your son. Despite having you as a father he's grown to be really great guy. And instead of living his life, he's been doing your job as a man by acting like he's the father around here. You moved him away from me and thought, what? That our love would die? You didn't have a job then and you ain't got one now." she looked over at Stevie and sighed. "Boy, go to school. That stripping money will not last forever. Mary, you're a lovely woman and you deserve better, thank you for dinner. And Stacy, you are doing yourself a favor by getting away from this man." she paused and looked around the room and then stopped at Sam. "I'm sorry, Sam. I tried." she immediately ran out of the house.

* * *

Sam followed behind Mercedes and sighed when he noticed her leaning against the door. Sam knew it was going to be bad but he never knew it would have been that bad. He figured his dad would have sat silently. He wanted to say everything she said in there but she beat him to the punch. She was amazing in there but he feared that this would push her from him. Why would she want to be apart of family that was as dysfunctional as his family. He slowly stepped closer to her and tried to think of the right words to say.

"I'm sorry, Mercedes." Sam said. Mercedes turned and looked at him then shrugged before shaking her head.

"I don't know what I expected." she chuckled. "No...I'm lying...I wanted to see if everything you said was true."

"I've never lied to you, Mercedes."

"Can we leave?" she asked as she opened the door and got in. Sam stared at the car then looked behind him as his mother looked at them from the window. He waved then walked to the driver side and drove them to the hotel. The entire ride was silent and they were silent in the elevator as well. Once they got in front of the door Sam broke the silence.

"I'm really sorry..." Mercedes cut him off by hugging him tight. He was shocked that she was hugging him but he held her tight anyway. She pulled away and stepped back as he opened the door to the room and followed her in. "Tomorrow before we leave for Lima, I'm going to make my father apologize to you. I promise." Sam said as he removed his sweater before turning in shock to find Mercedes standing near him. "Did you mean what you said to my dad?"

"I said a lot to him."

"I mean about our love not dying, did you mean it?" Sam asked. She shrugged then smiled before nodding. Sam wasn't sure if this was his time to make a move but he decided it was either now or never. He reached over and pulled her to him then he paused briefly waiting for her to object. When she didn't; he wasted no time to kiss her lips. Her arms slowly wrapped around his neck as Sam's hand held her tighter. They took a couple steps back till her back hit the wall and Sam deepened the kiss. She pulled away briefly to pull his shirt over his head and tossed it to the ground. She reached down for the button and zipper of his jeans before they fell to the ground. Sam lifted her dress over her head and tossed it aside before lifting her up and pinning her against the wall.

"Sam." she moaned as Sam trailed kisses all over her neck. He took a nice grip of her thighs with his hands and continued to suckle on her neck.

"You still smell good." Sam stated before carrying her over to the bed and lying her down softly. Once she was on the bed, he quickly made his way over and reclaimed her lips again as she struggled to remove her panties. He smiled when she ran her fingers through his hair. He loved when she did that back then and he loved when she was doing it now. Sam pulled his boxers down and hiked one of her legs up before placing a soft kiss on her ankles.

"Oh Sam." she moaned as he entered her slowly then smiled as she pushed him deeper inside. It had been years since he last felt himself inside of her and he never wanted it to be over. Mercedes seemed to want something different as she began to place kisses on his neck. He couldn't hold still any longer as he began to thrust in and out of her. Mercedes pushed him slightly till she was on top of him pushed him down with her hands. Sam smiled and held on to her waist as she bounced on him hard. He sat up and ran his hand up her back then held the back of her neck before placing kisses on her throat.

"Oh shit!" he cursed as she clenched around him. Sam held her waist and rolled her back to the bed and ran his hands up her thigh, she ran hers down his chest then around his back and held on tight. Mercedes moaned as Sam continued to thrust inside. "I love you so much." Sam stated before jerking inside her till he felt her legs began to quiver. He kissed her a couple times before spooning her from behind and whispering once more that he loved her.

"I love you too, Sam."

"God, that was so good." he stated before pulling her closer to him. "I can't wait to wake up next to you every morning. I was waiting for a good time to tell you about relocating to Memphis to record your album." he stated. "You don't have to move now but soon you'll have to let Puck know about us."

* * *

Mercedes listened as Sam rambled on about them getting together. She wasn't sure that they were back together yet and she was definitely not ready to tell Puck. She wasn't sure what she was doing. All she knew was that she wasn't happy with Puck and she refused to stay in a relationship with someone who didn't deserve her like Sam's mother. She had to worry about telling Samyra that she had planned to leave her father first. After dealing with her daughter then she will deal with telling Puck she cheated on him with Sam. But as Sam spoke she couldn't help but realize that she should have left Puck first then slept with Sam. It was all too late now. He was talking about relocating already. Sam was always the type to rush into things without thinking.

"Do you want me there when you tell him about us?" Sam asked as he yawned. She could tell he was falling asleep because the tight grip he had around her was starting to loosen.

"Uh...no I think it will be better if I did that alone." she replied. He placed a kiss on her neck then softly whispered he loved her again before falling asleep. Mercedes tested his arm to see if it was a dead drop before sliding away from his grasp. She slowly got dressed then packed her things before ordering up an Uber. She looked down on the bed and leaned down to place a kiss on his forehead. "I love you, Sam." she stated before leaving the hotel room. She sent him a text message letting him know why she had to leave. Once she was in the Uber, she bought a plane ticket then made a call she thought she'd make when she landed.

"Hey Santana...I need your help."

* * *

 **Boyyyyyyyyyy lemme stop here this was getting way too long. LOL. I was debating on adding her phone convo with Santana but it was getting too lengthy. Now for the reviews:**

 **MLiam- Mercedes really thinks Puck is the father but U will see that show down in 2 more chapters**

 **Lamimi &Whoknows-Yes Stevie is stripping lol and Stacy is the only sane one**

 **Zini-did u get what u wanted lol**

 **Sweetie-so Mercedes messed up her long-term relationship respect thing lol**

 **Sadhappy-Pucks tea gon spill soon**

 **And for those wondering about the paternity of Samyra that part will be spilled with Pucks tea**


	12. Chapter 12

"Mercedes, why are you calling me at booty call hours? You know Britt might be okay with a threesome but I'm sure you're not calling for that." Santana said as if she was sleeping. Mercedes knew Santana better than anyone and she knew that she was always a nocturnal vampire. The wee hours were always her stomping ground.

"I know we haven't spoken since..."

"Since you got mad at me for saying you need to leave big lips McGee alone? Yeah, I figured you'd call when you got over it." Santana replied cutting her off. They;d argued plenty times before and they'd never been the type to apologize to each other. They would just fall back in line as usual. And this time was no different.

"Whatever! I need your help so are you helping me or not?"

"Calm your tits. What do you need help with?"

"I need you to pick me up from the airport in about 3 hours."

"The airport?" Santana asked as she could hear the shock in her voice. "Where the hell are you flying from?" she asked. Mercedes pondered how to answer this without having Santana milk her for details.

"Memphis." She finally said.

"Memphis?"

"Yes, Memphis."

"Sam's Memphis?"

"Sam doesn't own a Memphis." Mercedes replied dryly.

"You want me to pick you up from the airport, right? I suggest you lose the 'tude and start explaining lickitty split."

"Look, yes, I came down here with Sam..."

"I knew it..."

"But I am tired..."

"Bet you are."

"...from doing a lot here..."

"Wanky."

"Santana!"

"My bad, bitch, go ahead." Santana responded finally allowing Mercedes to speak. Mercedes sighed and looked at the Uber driver that kept trying to pretend he wasn't listening in on their conversation.

"I'm in an Uber right now and cannot go into details but I will tell you everything when you pick me up." Mercedes responded before finally getting Santana to agree to wait till she picked her up.

The flight back to Lima seemed longer than the flight to Memphis had been. Mercedes wasn't sure if it was because she had so much on her mind but she couldn't get her brain to shut off. She hated having to leave Sam the way that she did but she couldn't fully be where she wanted to be if she didn't address things with Puck. And if she was going to have the music career that she wanted, she needed to make sure she wasn't hiding behind her journey. This was her time now and she was going to let anyone make her feel bad about it. First things first, she needed to hug her daughter tight and deal with the conversation she was about to have with Santana. Once she made it outside of the airport, she noticed Santana's car immediately. She placed her luggage into the trunk of the car then hopped into the passenger side.

"So...Memphis?" Santana asked the minute she closed the door and buckled her seat belt. Mercedes looked over at Santana and shook her head. "Well damn, you went up there and gone all _Waiting to Exhale_ and cut off the weave, huh? I mean, you look hot and shit but I wasn't expecting you rocking this look."

"Nice to see you too!" Mercedes said as Santana eased back into traffic.

"You know how I roll. Ain't gots no time for the small talks." Santana responded. "Can you drop the deets, or what? I feel like Tina right now and I gots to know the tea." Mercedes had the conversation with Santana many times in her head as she flew back to Lima. She still had no idea how to tell her what happened. She figured that she would just tell her about the meeting about her music career and maybe tell her about the family meeting but instead she blurted out something else.

"Sam and I...had sex!" she blurted out and kept her eyes straight out the window. She could feel Santana staring at her with every glance as she tried to keep her eyes on the road.

"You did what?" Santana asked. "Is that why he took you to Memphis? Why didn't he come back with you? Was he horrible? Are you leaving Puck for Sam? Was his dick big?"

"Santana!"

"I guess not since you're able to walk after sexing him for an entire weekend."

"We only did it the one time."

"Ah, the first time is never good, so I can see why you ran." Santana responded with a chuckle. Mercedes knew this would have been a good time to tell Santana that this was actually the second time they'd had sex. Instead, she gave her a vague explanation of what happened.

"I didn't run...I left. I have things I needed to handle. And to answer your questions, he took me to Memphis for a meeting about being a recording artist. He has no idea I left...and I don't know yet about Puck. And you had sex with Sam before you know if he's packing or not."

"Sam and I never had sex. That wasn't part of our deal to get back at Quinn, ya know." she smiled as she looked over at Mercedes. "Yeah we made out a few times and I grinded on his lap, but that was the closest I ever got to feeling it."

"High school, I do not miss thee." Mercedes stated before shaking her head.

"So tell me. Was he worth cheating on Puck with?" Santana asked causing Mercedes to allow her mind to go to the next thing that took over her mind on the plane. Sam was the definitely worth it. He'd supported her even when she thought he no longer cared for her. After meeting his parents, she saw that if he was capable of dealing with that and still able to save money to come back to her, he was worth it. What she wasn't ready for was the conversation with Samyra. Letting her know that she was leaving her father for her teacher was something she wasn't ready for. She wasn't sure what response she'd get from Samyra. She could hate her for the rest of her life. She wasn't sure if the risk was worth it but she did not want life to go on and have her become just like Sam's mother.

She never did answer that question as she pretended to fall asleep. Once Santana dropped her off to her parents house she immediately made her way to where her daughter slept. She made her way to the shower and cleaned up before putting on her pajamas then making her way back to the room. She stared at Samyra and smiled before getting into the bed and hugging her tight. Once everyone woke up she planned to tell them everything and her plans to follow her dreams. Right now everything was calm and she wanted to enjoy it before the storm. Once that was done she was going to head home and let Puckerman know that it was over.

* * *

Sam woke up to the sound of his phone blaring. He reached over for the phone with his eyes still closed trying to turn off the alarm, but when it continued to ring he finally opened one eye. He noticed that it wasn't the alarm but instead a phone call coming in. He looked over to the left of him and noticed that Mercedes was not sleeping next to him. He still smiled as his mind reminded him of what happened that night. He finally got his girl back. All his hard work and sacrifice was finally paying off. He wished she would have stayed in bed so that they could wake up together but at that point nothing could bring his day down after last night. He figured she might have went down to grab breakfast. He swiped on the phone to answer it without looking at the screen to see who was calling.

"Hello."

"Hey Sam, it's Brody. Did I wake you?"

"Uh...no." he lied as he got up from the bed and made his way to the bathroom. "What's up?" he asked before placing the phone on mute so that he could urinate without letting Brody know he was peeing.

"Cool...I just wanted to let you know that things are looking good for you and Mercedes." Sam smiled as he heard that comment as Brody had no idea just how good things were looking. "I met with some of our board members about rolling with you guys as our next recording artists. They have decided they would love to work with her as well as you. They want to sign you as an exclusive producer for Island Beats."

"Wow, that's...that's awesome!" Sam responded after taking himself off of mute. "This is amazing! I can't wait to tell Mercedes."

"They would like the both of you to come down to sign the papers so that we can get this party started."

"We have a couple things that we need to get in order and once we do we will be there. Thanks so much, Brody!" Sam said with excitement. He couldn't wait for her to return to tell her all about it so he tried to send her a text message. The minute he looked at his screen he noticed a message was waiting from Mercedes. He clicked on it and began to read it.

"Super. Don't have us waiting too long. I can see big things for you guys." Brody said. Sam was barely listening as he read her message that she had left him in the middle of the night. He couldn't believe that she had left without waking him up.

"Uh...hey, Brody, let me call you right back. My...uh...mother is calling on the other line." Sam lied before they both hung up. Sam sat on the toilet seat and just stared at the message as if it were going to change. Minutes later, the phone rang again and this time it was in fact his mother calling. He glared at the phone wondering if bringing Mercedes to meet his family was a bad idea. Did it cause her to run? "What do you want, mom?"

"Sammy, please come by before you leave. I don't want you to leave angry with me." Mary said. Sam normally would have told her that he wasn't coming but he felt he needed to get some things off his chest. If they some how cost him Mercedes again, he was not going to just let that happen again without saying a word.

"I'll be there in a few." he muttered before hanging up the phone on her. He got up and walked out to the room and stared at the bed where he once lay in ignorant bliss before tossing his phone on the bed then watching it bounce and hit the wall. It cracked before it fell to the ground. He ran his hands through his hair, and grabbed the back of his neck as he tried to figure out why she'd leave. He thought everything that was said would have been everything she'd ever wanted to hear. He knew she loved him just as much as he loved her. If anything made her run, it would have to have been because she felt she needed to stay with Puck due to Samyra. Sam couldn't compete with that but he was not going to let her go. Not after the night they shared. He quickly packed his things then drove to his parents' house.

When Sam reached the house, he stared at the door long and hard. He didn't want to step foot inside the house but he wanted to finally do something that he'd wanted to do since they first got the house. He opened the door and forced a smile on his face when Stacy looked over at him then ran to hug him. She was forever running to hug him. She was the only person in the family that could change a mood with just one hug or one smile. He hugged her back feeling happy that she was going to finally leave that house and find some normalcy finally.

"Where's mom?"

"She's down in dad's office." she replied as her smile faded when she notice the smile on Sam's face disappear. "Sam, about what happened last night. You know how daddy is...why did you even bring her here?" Stacy asked as she stepped back and looked at him. "You know I've been dating this guy since my freshman year and he doesn't even know where we live. Dad's just not someone you bring people you care about around."

"I don't know what I was thinking. I really just wanted her to meet mom and you guys. I wanted you guys to see why I went back. Why she was so important to me."

"I noticed, Sammy. She got dad to shut the hell up, didn't she?" she chuckled then stopped when she heard steps coming from downstairs. "Anyway, it was nice to see you and meet her." she stated as she grabbed her coat.

"Where are you going?"

"I told you...I have a boyfriend. I'm going to go see him." she replied with a smile. "Oh...and tell Mercedes, that she actually made an impression on Stevie. He quit his stripping job last night." she placed a kiss on his cheek then stepped out the door. Sam smiled as he watched her leave then allowed the smile on his face to fade as he remembered that Mercedes had left him.

"Was that your sister?" Sam heard his mother ask causing him to turn to face her. When he didn't respond she continued to make her way towards the living room as Sam followed. "Where's your girlfriend?"

"She left." Sam replied before sitting next to her. She looked at him with sorrow in her eyes as Sam glared back at her. We wondered why she continued being with his father when he wasn't worth anything at all. He wondered what about him made her fall for him. He wondered if he'd become his father and if that was what scared Mercedes away.

"Sam, I'm sorry things didn't go the way you planned last night. Your...your father...he's usually just..."

"He's just an ass!" Sam stated cutting her off. "Why are you still with him? You don't need him. You never needed him!" Sam said as he searched for answers in his mother's eyes.

"Sam, don't talk about your father like that."

"Mercedes was right last night, you deserve so much more than what he's given you. You don't need him."

"Sammy." she said softly as she took his hands and held them. "One day you're going to marry Mercedes." she started and smiled when Sam sighed. "I know you will. You never gave up on her and she will marry you. Despite what she saw last night, she will marry you. And once you're married..."

"Mom, don't give me that crap."

"Once you're married..." she continued anyway. "You will see that marriage isn't all rainbows and sunshine. There will be days when it rains, some of those rainy days may bring you lovely nights and others may bring lonely nights. When the rain fades away your love for each other will still be there." Sam shook his head in disbelief but he didn't interrupt her again. "You and Mercedes will have a family soon and she'll look to you to support her just as I looked to your dad to support us."

"Dad hasn't supported us since he lost that job he had that made us move to Lima to begin with."

"And what do you think that did to his ego?"

"That's no excuse, mom."

"It's no excuse but it is the reason. Your father lost his confidence and when I married him my vows didn't tell me to leave him while he was down." Sam wanted to tell his mother that she was batshit crazy but he could see in her eyes it wouldn't matter. She was never going to leave their father. "I am sorry about what he said to Mercedes last night."

"Stop apologizing for him." Sam said as he removed his hands from hers. He hated how she was always speaking for him and it made him angrier every time she did it. "He needs to apologize to her himself." Sam said just as Mary looked up causing Sam to turn around and see his father standing behind them.

"I'll do it." Dwight said, shocking the both of them. He walked over and sat on his favorite lazyboy chair before looking at Sam. "I'll apologize for the things I said if you answer this question for me." Sam looked at his father then over at his mother before returning his gaze and shrugging.

"Shoot!"

"That day when we left Lima, you were with Mercedes, huh?" He looked at Mary then back at Sam. "Did you have sex with her?"

"Dwight!" Mary quickly stood. Sam wasn't sure how that would make things better but he wanted to hear what his father had to say. "Sam, you don't have to respond to that question."

"Mary, let him speak." Dwight said causing Mary to sit back down as Sam stood up and made his way to his father. "Did you lose your virginity to that girl? Is that why you've been obsessed with her?" Sam glared at his father as he slowly stood to face Sam.

"I loved her. I still love her. I will always love her." Sam replied. "And, yes, we lost our virginity together that night." Sam responded as he glared back into his father's eyes and watched his father look over at his mother before slowly sitting down.

"Did she tell you?" Dwight asked and looked at Sam.

"Tell me what?"

"Dwight, I don't think he knows."

"What don't I know?"

"So, she never told him?" Dwight asked as Sam looked between his parents waiting for an answer.

"She who? And what didn't she tell me?"

"I don't think she knows either." Mary replied again as they both looked at Sam. He wasn't sure what was going on but their cryptic stares and the fact that they were ignoring him was starting to irritate him.

"Will you two answer me? What are you two talking about?" he asked. Mary stood up and grabbed a photo album before walking over to Sam and showing him a picture of him and Stacy when he was a lot younger. "Is that a picture of me holding Stacy?" Sam asked. He wanted to smile but he was too confused about the cryptic looks on his parents face to focus in on the picture. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Sammy, that little girl in the picture Mercedes showed us last night. She looks exactly like a tanner version of Stacy. Don't you think?" Mary asked as Sam took the album and looked at it harder. He tried to compare Samyra to Stacy's picture then looked at his parents with a slight confusion.

"Mom?"

"That little girl is your daughter, Sam." Mary said as Sam stared at the picture of Stacy.

* * *

 **Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnn lol ...Hey yall! Are y'all still out there? I hope so.**

 **So Mary and Dwight think that Samyra is their grandchild because she looks like Stacy. Dun Dun Dunnnnnn lol**

 **Lamimi- they moved to Memphis because Dwight and Mary lost their job AGAIN and didn't have enough money to pay for the motel they were staying in lol but u right...they are dumb and ratchet lol**

 **Storm- lol only 99.79%**

 **70122: Well shit is about to hit the fan lol**

 **JuJubee: Puck is coming soon**

 **Mowatts: We will see soon how Samyra takes it...how everyone takes it lol**

 **Whoknows: I always love ur long reviews lol and Maybe the Evans' will get better lol**

 **thank you everyone for reviewing. I hope you stick around for the shit hitting the fan. And I hope you enjoy the ride.**


	13. Chapter 13

Mercedes woke up to the smell of bacon and the sound of her daughter screaming between giggles. She could hear her mother instructing Samyra on how to properly cook the bacon. The giggles brought a smile to her face, and for that mere second she almost forgot what she was about to do. She felt something heavy down in the bottom of her belly as she got up and made her way to the bathroom. She took a long shower as she tried to figure out what she would say to her daughter about leaving her father. She debated on what she would tell her parents. Once she was done with her shower, she decided that she would lead the conversation with the news of her music career. She slowly got dressed then made her way to the dining room where everyone was seated and eating.

"Good morning sleepyhead." her father said with a smile. Mercedes smiled and gave him a kiss on his forehead before sitting down next to him and reaching for a biscuit.

"Good morning, Dad." she looked over to her mother and smiled as well. "Morning mama...hey baby girl." she added before looking over to her daughter who was stuffing her face with pancakes.

"I told you my mom was here." Samyra said with a prideful smile.

"You're right."

"Yeah...I got in last night. I didn't want to wake you guys." Mercedes explained before taking a bite out of her biscuit. "I, uh, am happy you're all here. I have some thing I wanted to talk to you guys about."

"Oh, would you like for Samyra to eat in the living room while we talk?" her father asked.

"No...I need to speak with her as well. It's about my trip to Memphis." Mercedes replied as she forced a smile on her face and gave a comforting nod. She looked around the table as everyone stared back at her with anticipation. "It's a bit of good news so you can relax."

"We're relaxed baby, you, you seem a bit uneasy." her mother said as she put her fork down. "Whatever it is, you know you can tell us." her mother added. Something about the way her mother said it made her feel as if her mother already knew. It was almost as if she was giving Mercedes permission to confess that she was with Sam in Memphis.

"I know, mom." she smiled then took a deep breath as she tried to remember what she planned during her shower. "So, you all remember when I used to want to be a singer, right?" she looked around and waited as they all nodded then waited. "Well, the main reason I went to Memphis was to meet up with a music exec that shown some interest in me. And they are interested in giving me a chance." she smiled nervously and waited to see their reaction.

"Seriously, mom? That's amazing!" Samyra exclaimed before running towards her mother and hugging her. She held her daughter tight and closed her eyes wondering if this would be the last time that she would be happy to hug her mother. She opened her eyes and noticed her parents looking at her with concern.

"Mom? Dad?"

"We're just in shock." her father said as he looked over to her mother.

"How did this music exec find you?" she asked. Samyra made her way back to her seat and looked at all the adults on the table. Mercedes could tell that her mother wanted her to mention Sam. Mercedes wasn't sure how to bring him up before talking more with Samyra.

"They received a video of me performing at The Shack." Mercedes replied. She wasn't exactly lying but she wasn't telling the whole truth and she knew she had to tell them.

"Okay, well, we're really happy for you baby girl. What did Noah say about all of this? He's always been a bit apprehensive of you following that career path."

"I know, Dad. And for a while I allowed him to stand between my dream of becoming a singer. I haven't told him but I will after I drop Myra to school tomorrow." she replied then looked over to Samyra and took another deep breath. "Baby, can you let me talk to Nana and Pop for a second?"

"Why can't I stay, mom? You're going to talk about me and Dad, right? I should be here for that, right?"

"Wrong." Mercedes responded then pointed to the living room. "Give us a minute and I will talk with you about all this. I promise." Mercedes frowned as she watched Samyra reluctantly step out of the room. She was not looking forward to this conversation but she could tell by the look on her mother's face that she needed to talk to her parents first.

"You went to Memphis with Sam Evans, didn't you?" her mother asked once Samyra was out of ear shot. "He's the same Sam Evans that teaches her art class that she won't stop talking about, isn't it?"

"Mom, let me explain..."

"If you're going to explain, give it to us straight. What's going on?" her father interjected. Mercedes looked between her parents and nodded before finally taking a deep breath again.

"Okay, yes mom, I did go to Memphis with Sam. Yes, he's her teacher." Mercedes responded. "He's the same Sam, that took me to prom..."

"And took your virginity nine years ago." her mother said shocking both Mercedes and her father. Mercedes never knew that her mother knew anything about her losing her virginity to Sam. "I saw when he left your room that morning. He didn't know or see me but I saw him. I had planned to say something to the both of you about it but I didn't." her mother sighed before focusing on Mercedes. "You just looked so sad after he left, I didn't know what to say to console you."

"And no one told me any of this?" her father asked as he looked a the both of them in shock.

"I didn't know what to say. And then she started dating Puck and she just kind of lost yourself in him. I didn't know what to say." her voice broke as she took Mercedes by the hand. "If singing brings back our happy singing Princess back to us...then you have my support but I need you to never keep things from me again."

"I promise, mom. I'm sorry." Mercedes said as she hugged her mother as tears fell from her eyes. She felt her father slowly join them in the hug before finally parting from them and wiping her eyes. "I won't keep anything from you anymore. I promise."

"Okay...well then is there anything else you want to tell us?" her mother asked.

"Well, I do plan on breaking things off with Noah. So I am going to need more of your support with everything. Especially when I start recording and have to travel to Memphis." she replied. She noticed her mother looked a bit annoyed by her response but before she could ask her about it her mother asked a different question.

"Do you want us to pick Samyra up from school tomorrow so that you can talk to Noah privately? Do you want us there when you break up with him?" her mother asked.

"No, he won't do anything crazy. He's not the brightest but he ain't suicidal." Mercedes said before smiling at her parents. The conversation with them went by better than she expected and now she had to talk to her daughter. "I'm going to go talk to Myra now." she stood before walking over to the living room where she could hear Samyra trying to run back to the sofa. Mercedes shook her head as she watched her pretend to draw. "How much did you hear?" she asked then sat next to her.

"Huh?" Samyra said as she continued to act like she didn't notice her mother was there. "Oh hey mom."

"Forget drawing, you need to be in some drama club with all of that." Mercedes said as she took her drawing book from her and closed it. "I need to talk to you."

"About Dad?" she asked before looking at her mother. "You're getting a divorce, huh?" she asked causing Mercedes to laugh.

"Not a divorce, baby, but things are going to change. I want you to know that your dad and I love you and will continue to love you. We just won't live together anymore." she explained then watched as Samyra tried to make sense of it all.

"Will I still go to my school?" she asked confusing Mercedes.

"Why would you not go to your school?"

"I heard you say that you would be going to Memphis." Samyra responded. "Which means I won't go to my school and I won't get to show Mr. Evans when I finish the comic book he gave me."

"Don't worry baby. No matter what happens, we will make sure Mr. Evans sees your finished product." Mercedes smiled in shock as she hugged her daughter. Here she thought she would be mad about losing her father but instead she was just mad that she wouldn't see Sam anymore. If only she knew, that soon Sam would be around more than she knew.

* * *

The next day, Mercedes went home after dropping Samyra off to school. She began packing all of her things and Samyra's things and cleaned to calm her nerves. She wondered if Sam got her message and if he was upset that she left him the way she did. She hadn't heard from him so she assumed he was upset. She checked his Facebook and Instagram account but he hadn't post anything at all. She was minutes from contacting Santana when she heard the sound of keys at the door. She took a deep breath then walked back out to the living room. Every thing was different now and things were only going to change more. She hadn't seen Puck in days and now she was about to confess about being with Sam and pursuing her career. She couldn't believe that between the two, she was going to be the person that caused the relationship to end. She'd always suspected Puck had affairs but she never had proof and now he was going to have the upper hand.

"Hey." Puck said as he opened the door and brought in his luggage then stopped when he noticed her luggage near the door. "I didn't expect you to be home."

"Isn't that where you want me to stay? At home doing nothing but waiting for you to return?" Mercedes asked as she crossed her arms. He looked at her then allowed a smile to appear on his face before nudging his head towards her luggage near the door.

"You just getting back in?" he asked as he kicked the door shut before setting his stuff down.

"We need to talk."

"Is this about the past due bills?" he asked before sighing real loud. "I will take care of it all. You don't have to worry your pretty little head about none of it, babe." he responded before leaning over to kiss her head. Mercedes leaned away and glared at him. "What? I promise. No need to continue being all mad at me." he said as he pulled her by her waist. "I've missed you." Puck said as he placed a kiss on her neck.

"I went to Memphis and met with a music exec about pursuing my music career." Mercedes said. Puck paused before slowly stepping away from her then looking at her as if she suddenly looked unrecognizable.

"Memphis?"

"Yes."

"Sam's Memphis?"

"Sam doesn't own Memphis, Puck." Mercedes replied as she rolled her eyes.

"But he put those ideas in your head didn't he? You were perfectly happy then all of a sudden he comes back in town and you're all ready to lose it all for music."

"Lose it all?" Mercedes asked. "And how would you know if I was perfectly happy?"

"I take care of you, Mercedes. I take of our family. What more do you want to make you happy?" Puck asked.

"Puck we have past due notices on more than one bill. You refuse to let me get a job to help out around here and _that lifestyle, Puckerman,_ would never make me happy." she walked away from him and turned to face him again. "I have a chance at a real contract and I'm not letting you get in the way of that. Not anymore!"

"Sam got you that contract so he can sleep with you?" Puck asked.

"Oh hell to the no, Puckerman! I got the contract with my talent. Sure, Sam believed in me and my singing career, unlike you."

"So you fucked him?"

"Did you fuck Lauren?"

"Don't turn this on me, Mercedes!" Puck shouted back. "Did you fuck Sam for that contract?" he asked again.

"Puck, I don't care what you believe and it is irrelevant. I am taking the contract and I have spoke to my parents about helping with Samyra. We're going to move back to my parents house till I can get my own place." Mercedes said as she walked over to grab her bags.

"You're not leaving." Puck said as he snatched the bag from her hands. "Just..." he paused as she glared at him then sighed. "Just stay. We can work it all out." he said causing Mercedes to soften her glare. He looked as if he was really afraid of losing her but it was all too late.

"Puck...sorry, I have to do this." she replied then stepped away from him. "I am not happy here."

"And you think you'll be happy with him?" he asked. "He left you before and he'll do it again."

"I don't care, Puck. I am not doing this for Sam. I am doing this for me."she replied as she grabbed her bags and opened the front door. The minute she took a step outside of the door Puck stopped her.

"If you leave, I will file for full custody of Nora."

"You wouldn't?"

"I already lost Beth, you think I'm just going to let you take Nora too?" he asked. "I will tell them that you would rather sing around the world instead of being there for your daughter. So, go have your singing career but just remember she will be with me and you will only have visitation rights." he threatened. Mercedes felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach as she slowly stepped back into the house.

"Don't..." Mercedes said as she dropped the bag down.

"Don't make me do it." Puck said as he grabbed his keys then made his way towards the door.

"Where are you going? We're not done talking."

"We are done talking! You're not leaving me and I'm going to pick up _our_ daughter from school." he said as he stepped outside. Mercedes quickly followed behind him and got into the car. She wasn't about to let him pick Samyra up without her. The conversation definitely didn't go the way she planned. She knew he would be upset but she never thought he would threaten to file full custody. Mercedes wanted her music career but not at the cost of losing her daughter. He drove in complete silence then came to a screeching halt when he got to the school. He was glaring and Mercedes could see that he was looking right at Sam. Before she could stop him, Puck had jumped out of the car and charging towards Sam.

* * *

Sam's Sunday and Monday were filled with questions and scenarios that kept running through his mind. He couldn't get the thought that Samyra was his daughter out of his head. How did he not figure it out before? The signs were all there but he never saw them. She really did look like Stacy and he should have noticed it since the first time he saw her at the grocery store with Mercedes. But he was distracted by seeing that she was with Puck that he ignored it all. Aside from the hazel eyes she was practically Stacy's twin. It was all there and he ignored before and now it was all he thought about. He waited for Mercedes at the Lima Bean but she never showed up. He wanted to ask her if she ever thought there was a possibility that he was the father or if she was clueless like his mother thought. He still didn't have a phone as he learned when he returned that he had spent way too much money trying to impress Mercedes. He had to sacrifice his cellphone for the time being. As much as he couldn't wait to see Mercedes again, he really couldn't wait to see Samyra. So when the bell rang for his art class to arrive he felt his heart begin to increase in speed.

"Hey everybody." he smiled as they all entered in one by one. He kept searching for Samyra and smiled when she finally appeared clutching the comic book he gave her. The smile on his face disappeared when he noticed the apparent frown on her face. He immediately felt as if he needed to console her. "Hey Samyra, are you okay?" he asked. She didn't look at him but she shook her head then shrugged as if she wasn't sure. He looked to his class and advised them to draw what they did over the weekend then stepped outside with her. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." she replied as tears fell from her eyes. Sam fought everything in him to pull her in and hug her tight. He wanted to be a father to her. He wanted to tell her that he was always going to be there for her.

"So, you're crying for...nothing?" Sam asked as he forced a smile on his face hoping it would make her smile. "Come on, you can tell me."

"My mom and dad are divorcing or something like that." she finally said. To Sam this was all great news but as a new father he didn't want to see his daughter hurt even if it was because she thought some other man was her dad. He also hated that he was partially if not completely the cause of the break up.

"Why would you say that?"

"She told me that we were moving." she sobbed for a bit. "I don't want to move." she admitted. "What if I don't have a cool teacher like you or friends that I have here?" she asked. Sam wasn't sure if Mercedes told Samyra about moving to Memphis and it was obvious she had no clue about him. So he tried to console her in the best way he could.

"I will always be here for you. No matter where you go." Sam stated meaning more as a parent than a teacher. She looked at him and smiled before handing him the comic book. "Did you draw more?" he asked as he flipped through it and smiled at her progress. "These are amazing." There was no doubt to him now that she was definitely his daughter. All he had to do was talk to Mercedes about what they would do about this going forward. "Come on let's get back to the class and we'll talk to your mother more about keeping in touch if you have to move, okay?"

"Thank you, Mr. Evans." she replied with a smile. Sam sighed as he wondered when or if she would ever call him, dad. He knew things were going to be complicated and he was praying for patience. He knew he was going to need it.

* * *

At the end of the school day, Sam joined the other teachers outside so that they can monitor the dismissals. He normally shot out of there like a bat out of hell so that he could spend time in his studio, but not today. He wanted to be there when Mercedes picked up Samyra. He couldn't wait to see her again. To tell her that although it hurt that she left the way she did, he got over it. He wanted her to know that he couldn't wait to kiss her again and hold her tight but he knew he would have to settle with communicating silently as they had done so many times back at McKinley. Oddly, the two of them were known to have numerous conversations by simply staring at each other. Today was going to be the same way as the focus was going to be on consoling Samyra.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Sam asked as he approached Samyra standing by herself at the farther end of the entrance of the school. She looked up to him and shrugged once more. It was obvious that she had a lot on her mind.

"Are your parents divorced?" She asked. "Melissa told me that when her parents got a divorce, they made her go to court and she had to pick between her parents." she added. Sam wanted to tell her how much he wished his parents would divorce but he knew that this was neither the time nor the place.

"Well, I am sure your mom and dad will make sure you never have to pick between them. They will always think of your well-being first." Sam responded. He was thinking of himself instead of Puck which was an issue in itself. He automatically forgot completely when it came to Puckerman. Sam was minutes away from saying something else to comfort her when he noticed Puckerman coming their way. He could tell from the look in his eyes that Mercedes told him about going to Memphis.

"GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" Puck shouted before pulling Samyra to him. Sam stepped back and looked around as everyone started looking in their direction. "You're lucky you're on school grounds." he said with clenched teeth.

"Daddy!" Samyra shouted causing Sam to look her way. He knew she was talking to Puck but he felt as if he should have said something. Instead he tried to calm himself down.

"It's okay Samyra."

"Her name is Nora."

"Her name is Samyra." Sam challenged and prepared to say more but stopped when he noticed Mercedes coming towards him. Just seeing her again was enough to calm him down a bit more as he stepped back. They locked eyes and he could tell she wanted to apologize but she couldn't say it with Puck there.

"You stay away from Mercedes. Stop putting all these crazy ideas in her head." Puck said as Mercedes stepped back with Samyra. Sam could tell that Mercedes and Puck had most likely just had a fight and he was the top subject. He could also tell that she told Samyra the diluted version and didn't want her to hear their conversation. She made sure Samyra wasn't too close to hear Sam and Puck talking. "I know you had a little fun with her in Memphis. Let that be the last time." he added before turning to walk away with Mercedes. Mercedes turned to look at Sam once more causing Puck to turn once again and charge back at Sam. "And stay away from my daughter!" he added before turning to walk away.

"She's not your daughter." Sam said causing Puck to stop mid-step before continuing to walk back to his car with Samyra. Mercedes glared at him as if he had said the worse thing in the world. She looked around at everyone that was staring then shook her head before turning to follow Puck. Sam hated that he said it there on school grounds but he just couldn't hold it in any longer. Now he may have ruin things with Mercedes and he might have also lost his job with the school. Everyone was still staring at him and from the way Puck was acting, it was as if Sam had done something inappropriate. He shoved his hands in his pockets and quickly made his way to the car. He needed to talk to Mercedes and he didn't care how Puckerman felt about it.

* * *

 **So the cats out of the bag...well kind of out of the bag. Where the hell has Puck been? What else does Mama Jones know? Will Mercedes give up her music career for real?**

 **Mowatts: So Puck did not let her go...dun dun dunnnnn**

 **Sadhappy: So Puckcedes had the talk lol but we still don't know where Puck has been...guess we will know soon**

 **Storm Carson: I was wondering if you all wanted to see different POVs been debating it since the 2nd chapter**

 **whoknowstv: Well Mercedes tried to kick him to the curb...but u got the Spuck confrontation lol**

 **Zini: Well Sam sees it now**


	14. Chapter 14

The ride from the school was intense. Not in the sense that Mercedes was used to when it came to Puckerman. He was extremely quiet and from the way he had his jaws squared, she knew he was racking his brain about what just happened. Normally, Mercedes would have sided with Sam because Puck had no right to bring their drama to the school. And his reaction to take things to pound town was something that she was used to with Puck since high school. But, in this instance, Sam was wrong. That was not the place nor the time for it at all. It took everything out of her not to slap him in the face after what he pulled. First, she hadn't heard from him since she left in Memphis and now he wanted to challenge Puck's paternity. She couldn't understand why he would say what he said and she prayed that Samyra didn't hear it.

"Noah..." she began to say but stopped when he glared at her then looked up at his rear view mirror and smiled at Samyra.

"What are you drawing back there, Princess?" Puck asked. Mercedes turned back to look at Samyra as she shrugged and continued to draw. She was awkwardly quiet as well which made her think that she did hear what Sam said. "You should draw a picture of yourself and daddy. I need a new drawing to put on my desk at work." he continued with a smile. When she didn't respond he sighed and glared over at Mercedes again. "You know daddy loves you, right?" Mercedes turned her attention back to the road and realized that he was heading in the direction of her parents house.

"I know...daddy." Samyra replied before returning her attention to what she was doing again.

"Why aren't we heading home?" Mercedes asked. Puck ignored her and continued to drive til he reached her parents' home and parked the car.

"Take her inside." he finally said to her without looking her way. Mercedes wanted to say no but decided against it. Last thing she wanted Samyra was see was her and Puck arguing about what happened at the school. She jumped out of the car with Samyra and made her way inside as she looked back at her dad then waved. "I'll come pick you up in a few okay, princess?"

"Mom, is everything okay?" Samyra asked as Mercedes used her keys to open the door. Mercedes looked down at her daughter and wasn't sure if she could answer her honestly. Before she could reply she opened the door to her mother standing near the door.

"Hey mom, can you watch Myra for me for a few. Puck and I..."

"You have things to discuss?" she asked with a smile. "Myra, go do your homework in your room." she instructed before turning her gaze back to Mercedes. "How long will you two be..."

"I don't know, mom." Mercedes replied as she rubbed her temples trying to figure what the hell was happening to her life. "Things aren't going the way I thought they would have."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I told Noah about my plans and now he's threatening to file for full custody." Mercedes felt as if she were on the brink of tears till she looked at her mother who was now smiling.

"Let him file it." she replied before walking towards the kitchen as if she didn't just say that Puck wanted to take her daughter from her.

"Mom, did you not hear what I said?"

"Yes, I heard you loud and clear." she replied as continued to prepare dinner. "And, I am telling you to let him file it." she smiled again. "You won't lose Myra. trust me."

"Mom, I can't take the chance. He knows I want to pursue music and he's going to use that against me." Mercedes explained and couldn't rack her mind as to why her mother seemed unmoved. "And things didn't get better at the school because...get this mom..." she chuckled then shook her head. "Sam Evans told Noah and the entire school that he doesn't think Noah is Samyra's father."

"Did he now?" her mother asked with the same smile as before. "I can see why he'd say that."

"Mom! Are you serious right now?" Mercedes asked and just as her mother was about to speak, Puckerman honked his horn to rush her back outside.

"Go on now. Puckerman needs to know the truth and I guess you do too." her mother said as Mercedes looked at her mother in confusion.

"Okay whatever Mom. You're being all cryptic. I will be back later." Mercedes replied then walked over to Samyra's room and peaked in. She looked as if she was on the brink of tears. Mercedes wanted to talk to her but stopped once more when Puck blared on his horn again. She quickly made her way back outside and glared at Puck once she got in the car. "Can we hurry up and get this over with." He didn't respond to her as he backed out of the driveway. Mercedes used the silence to figure out what she would say and to figure out why her mother was being cryptic.

The minute they stepped inside, Puck's silence was gone. He went on about Sam and threatened to take Samyra out of the school if Sam continued to teach there. He told Mercedes that there was no way that she could continue to be friends with Sam. The whole time he shouted Mercedes remained quiet. She wanted him to get everything out before she unleashed the beast. As far as she was concerned, Puck couldn't tell her what to do. And with the support of her parents she was going to fight to gain full custody if Puck wanted to take it there. She couldn't see any courts awarding Puck full custody just because she wanted to pursue music. And as for Sam, she figured their relationship would have to be put on the back burner for now.

"I'm going to see Principal Figgins first chance I get. I want Sam fired!"

"Puck, don't you think that's taking it too far?" Mercedes hated that Sam said what he said at the school but she didn't want him to lose his job especially knowing that Samyra loved him as much as she did.

"You don't think he took it too far?" Puck asked. "He's lucky I didn't pounce on him right then and there." Puck added as punched the palm of his opposite hand. "You're the reason he's acting this way, you know."

"Me?"

"Yeah you! Ever since he got back to town he's been gunning for you. I know it. Everyone sees it."

"How do you know it? You're never here! You're always taking trips and working late and doing God knows who!" Mercedes was tired of acting like she didn't know he was creeping. She was tired of letting it slide just for the sake of Myra. It wasn't helping Myra or herself.

"Don't turn this on me, Mercedes!" Puck shouted back. "You haven't been around here either. Where have you been? With Sam?"

"Who have you been with? Lauren?"

"Leave Lauren out of this."

"Leave Sam out of this then. He hasn't done anything to you!" Mercedes shouted. He was always quick to defend Lauren but she knew there was something there. Even if they both wouldn't admit to it.

"He just shouted to the entire town that I was not Samyra's father!" he shouted back. They both fell silent and stared at each other before Puck finally lowered his voice and asked the question she could tell he'd been holding in. "Is he...am I not..." he paused before continuing. "Did you sleep with Sam back in '09?" he asked instead. Mercedes knew that she would eventually have to come clean about her history with Sam but she didn't see the point of it right now. He was only asking it because of what Sam said and that made her even more upset.

"What? Are you serious right now?" she asked instead. "Sam shouts some craziness and you automatically want a journey back to junior year."

"Wow!" Puck said before shaking his head. "You slept with him, didn't you?"

"Are you sleeping with Lauren?"

"You know I invented what you're doing. I've been doing that for the most part of our relationship."

"So you admit you've been cheating on me?" Mercedes asked. She wasn't sure if she was asking so that she'd feel better for sleeping with Sam in Memphis or because she actually wanted to hear him say it.

"Did you sleep with Sam, Mercedes?" he asked instead. "Just tell me." he added as he walked over to her and waited for her to respond. Mercedes looked into his eyes and for the first time she saw vulnerability. The last time she saw that look was senior year when he thought he wasn't going to graduate. He didn't care if she'd slept with Sam. He just wanted to know if there was some truth to what Sam said.

"That's not what you're asking me, is it?" she asked knowing that it wasn't. He really believed what Sam said. If she was honest the time gaps between the two relationships weren't that much. Mercedes was a bit shocked that the thought never even dawned on her. But now, as she looked into Puck's eyes she knew that there was a possibility because she couldn't see Samyra in his eyes. How had she not ever seen that before. "I did. We loved each other." she finally responded. "This was way before we got together. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. You gave it up and he didn't even stick around." Puck retorted. Normally that would have hurt her. If Sam never came back, that might have hurt her but he came back. He never forgot about her. He didn't just forget about her. His leaving wasn't a choice that he made.

"You know it wasn't his fault. And he came back for me."

"You really think he came back for you?" he asked as he looked at her. "He came back for Samyra. You knew he was the father but since he wasn't around you dropped it on me like a chump." Puck said as he walked off to the bedroom then came back out. "You know, I had a feeling in the hospital that day. Hell, I had a feeling when you told me that you and Sam only had a fling. No one cries that much over a dumb ass fling."

"I...I didn't..."

"And now he's back and you're leaving me to be with him, right?" he asked and Mercedes wanted to tell him that she was considering it before but with everything going on she wasn't sure it would be right. Her rash judgement to get with Puckerman after Sam left was the reason they were in the situation they were in now. She should have waited and right now she feels it wouldn't be right to jump into something with Sam. "Is she Sam's daughter?" he finally asked. Mercedes stared at Puck and shook her head. As far as she knew, Puck was the only father Samyra knew.

"I don't have time for this, right now." she responded instead and grabbed her keys and purse. "I'm going to my parents." She added before making her way to the door.

* * *

Sam knew that he'd just made matters worse. If what his mother thought was true, then it was obvious Mercedes truly thought Puck was the father. And in front of the school yard was not the place to let it all out. He just couldn't take it anymore, and it might have caused him to lose everything. The minute Puckerman pulled away from the school yard, Sam was told to report to Principal Figgins. When Sam returned to Lima he was shocked to see how many people never really left Lima. Principal Figgins couldn't return to McKinley as the principal after Sue ruined his reputation there but he was able to become one at the elementary school. Sam took the long way to office knowing that this was not going to be a a good conversation.

"Mr. Evans, come in and close the door behind you." Figgins said as he watched Sam step into the office.

"Uh...yeah, you wanted to see me?"

"Rumor mills are running crazy, Mr. Evans." Figgins replied. "Heard it through the grapevine that you hanging your dirty laundry out amongst parents and their students today. I am sure you are aware that our budget cannot take another lawsuit."

"Yes, I am aware...and I can explain..."

"Just last week, one of the parents put out a lawsuit against Mrs. Gilmore forcing the students to pray to her ceramic donkey that she created while watching the movie _Ghost!"_ Sam wasn't sure what Figgins was talking about but he nodded anyway. "Last thing we need is for parents to hear about you and your _Summer Lovin'_ drama and how it never ended for the two of you."

"Wait...what?" Sam asked in shock that Figgins knew anything at all about his so called fling with Mercedes.

"I subscribe to Tina's McKinley's Gossip blog. She's calling Cohen Chang Bang, and I hear it's doing really well, but I am only waiting for her to reveal that she was and still is a vampire. She hasn't aged one bit."

"Neither has anyone else in this town." Sam mumbled. Figgins leaned forward as if he had someone else in the office listening in to the conversation that they were having.

"Is it true that you used to be a Kentucky Fried Stripper?"

"What? I'm from Tennessee. How? Who told you that?"

"I cannot disclose where I get my information from, Mr. Evans." he replied as if he didn't just mention that Tina was the town's gossip. He'd only told Mercedes so she must have told Tina about it. He didn't even know that they were still close. Why would she tell Tina about that and allow her to put it on a blog. "The point I am getting to is that we can't afford to keep you as an art teacher here. You might be better off at McKinley High where Sue is still the principal."

"Wait...you can't fire me and I can't work with Sue. She still doesn't like me much."

"I am sorry, Mr. Evans. I have to consider the budget and these lawsuits that just keep piling up." Figgins replied. Sam sighed as he watched Figgins stand and walk towards the door. "We just can't afford a male stripper here as a teacher."

"But I'm not a stripper any more." Sam replied before standing up and walking towards the door. "Is there anything that I can do?"

"Maybe return to stripping." Figgins replied before closing the door. Sam stared at the door and sighed knowing that he was going to have to make a decision about staying in Lima. Things were a bit more complicated now. He had a daughter now. Or better yet he was aware of the fact that he had a daughter there now. He couldn't just leave her now. He needed to talk to Mercedes. He knew there was no way that he would go to her place and risk the chance of getting into a _Maury Show_ brawl over who's the daddy right in front of his daughter and Mercedes.

He got into his car, after clearing out all of his things from his classroom and made his way towards Mercedes' parents house. When he got there, he just sat in his car and stared at the house wondering if this was a good idea. He was within minutes of driving off when the front door opened. Her parents were at the door motioning for him to come inside. He wondered if they thought he was stalking Mercedes but he stepped out anyway. He jammed his hands in his pocket before walking towards the house and plastering a smile on his face.

"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Jones. I...uh...didn't mean to sit in your driveway like that. I'm..."

"Come inside, Sam. We remember you very well. And Samyra doesn't stop talking about you when she's here." her father said as he stepped aside and allowed Sam to enter the home. He smiled at her mother and looked around at all the pictures they had of Mercedes and Samyra. They had a few of her brother with his children but no pictures of Puckerman anywhere.

"I didn't mean to show up uninvited."

"It's not the first time you've done that, son." her father replied as they sat down in the dining room.

"Would you like anything to drink?" her mother asked as she glared at Mercedes' father then turned to smile at Sam. He shook his head to decline, not because he wasn't thirsty but mainly to avoid having to remain in the dining room with just Mercedes' father. "So to what do we owe this honor?"

"We haven't seen you around these parts since '09 and then all of a sudden you're taking Mercedes to Memphis and she comes back to her world upside down. How do you explain all of this?" her father asked not wasting any time. Sam thought of how to respond without saying the wrong thing. He was known for putting his foot in his mouth many times. And he didn't want that to happen here.

"I...uh...I'm sorry if my return to Lima has caused her some issues. I never intended to do that just as I had no intent on leaving her before."

"You both were kids."

"We were in love and I believe we are still." Sam replied. "If I knew now what I knew then I would have returned sooner. I never knew that...I just didn't know she was...I would have done anything to have been here for her." he added and watched as a smile spread across her mother's face.

"So you know about Samyra then?" her mother asked causing Sam's eyes to widen.

"Samyra?" Sam asked as he pretended he didn't know what she meant. At this point, he had no proof that he was Samyra's father only the suspicion that his own mother left with him.

"We know she's your daughter." Her father replied after sighing. "If she wasn't the best thing that ever happened to our daughter I would kill you for getting her pregnant and leaving."

"I didn't know. I promise." Sam quickly replied.

"We know." her mother replied before placing her hand on hr husband's hand. "And apparently, our daughter had no clue as well. More reason why you two were too young to be even having relations." she added before reaching over and touching Sam's hand. "For that, we're sorry as well. If we weren't so busy with work we would have known what was going on. Been there for her when you left and stopped her before she let go of her dreams."

"I'm trying to help her get back to that. And I want to make up for what I missed out on. I just don't know what to do when I can't even tell Mercedes that I am Samyra's father." Sam replied.

"Well yelling it out on the school yard was certainly not the place for that."

"You're right, sir. I'm not sure why I did that." Sam responded then paused when he notice they were both looking behind him. He turned to see Samyra peeking from behind the wall of the kitchen. Sam stood and looked at her nervously wondering how long had she been hiding there. From the look on her face it seemed as if she had been there for quite some time. "Uh...hey Samyra."

"Baby girl, were you eavesdropping?" Mercedes father asked as Samyra took shy steps forward. She looked to Sam for a minute then looked to her grandparents before returning her gaze to Sam.

"Are you my father?" she asked just as the front door of the house opened and Mercedes stepped inside. Everyone immediately turned to look towards the door as she closed the door behind her.

"Mom, Dad, I'm back..." she paused just as she noticed everyone looking her way. "Sam...what are you doing here?" she asked. Sam wasn't sure if she was upset with him still but he was still happy to see her nonetheless. He wasn't sure what was going to happen between them but he knew that things were definitely about to change for everyone involved.

* * *

 **Hello everyone. Thanks for reading. Next chapter will be Sam and Mercedes convo. And then we find out Puckerman's secret. Lamimi to answer ur question of how long this story was going to be...I have no clue...I kinda want to venture into what happens after Mercedes makes her decision how she plans on juggling everything...plus there's another surprise coming up soon that will throw everything Mercedes has planned in the air.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Life Goes on A POV**

 **Mercedes**

Mercedes was tired of it all and she just wanted this nightmare to be over, but it seemed like it was never-ending. She just wished everything could go back to when the only issue she had was wondering about pursuing her dreams. She thought running back to her parents she'd only have to deal with her parents asking her twenty one questions but of course, Sam had to be there. She should have known that he wouldn't just give her the space she needed to figure all of this out. If Puck was asking about his paternity and Sam was already questioning it then she knew it was only because he believed he was the father as well. Although she wanted to deny it to herself, something was gnawing at the back of her mind telling her that Sam was Samyra's father and life as they knew it was never going to be the same.

"Sam, what are you doing here?" she asked as she looked around the room and slowly removed her jacket. The look on their faces told her that they'd already began to discuss things without her and Samyra was right in the mix of it. She didn't even get a chance to come to terms with everything that was going on and now it seemed there wasn't any chance of her coming to terms on her own. She had to do it along with everyone else.

"Mom, is he my dad?" Samyra asked. Mercedes tried to contain the scream that wanted to jump out of her. What was going on in her life? She glared over at Sam and closed her eyes when he began to speak.

"Sorry, Mercedes, I didn't mean to..."

"I cannot deal with this right now. You have to leave, Sam!" Mercedes said as she dropped her purse and walked over to where her parents were. "How could you guys do this? Samyra, baby...I..."

"It's not their fault..."

"Didn't I tell you to leave?" Mercedes said cutting him off without looking in his direction. Sam sighed and looked over to her parents then gave a quick nod before heading towards the door. "You guys have no right."

"Mercedes, this has been going on long enough." her father responded. "Sam, wait, she's going with you." he stated before looking at Mercedes. "You need to talk to him. Then, you can come together and talk to Samyra." he added as he took Samyra's hand.

"So I don't get to stay for this?" Samyra asked before rolling her eyes and following her grandfather.

"Watch your tone, young lady." her mother stated before looking over at Mercedes. "When you're ready, we'll be here." Mercedes watched as they left her and Sam in the living room before turning to face him. She wasn't ready for this. She didn't even know what to say to him at this point. They hadn't had a real conversation since Memphis and even though she was mad at him she still wanted to run to him and cry on his shoulders over this. Instead, she walked over and grabbed her purse and jacket then made her way to the door.

"You wanna take a drive and talk about this?" she asked after sighing and looking his way. "The walls here have ears. Eight year old ears." He looked back at her as if this was the first time he'd seen her in months before allowing a smile to creep on the edge of his lips.

"Sure, your car or mine?" he asked as he followed her out the door. She didn't answer but walked over to his car and stopped near the passenger door waiting for him to unlock the door. Unlike Puckerman, he didn't just press the button to unlock it, he held the door for her as well. He was still the same sweet Sam from years ago. And she never wanted to be the cause of his hurt. If Samyra was his daughter, it would ultimately be her fault that he'd miss out on so many years of her life. Mercedes could feel that this was going to be hardest conversation she'd ever had. Because no matter what happened next, someone was going to end up hurt.

* * *

 **Puckerman**

Puck stared at the door after Mercedes left. He tried to figure out how was it that he was always the one left with nothing. No matter what he did to always think of himself first, he was always the odd man out. When he dated Quinn, he thought if he gave her everything that she would change her mind and keep Beth, but she didn't. And he ended up losing his daughter. The only thing he knew was that Ms. Corcoran had her somewhere in New York and she didn't want him to contact her. Puck remembered the day he ran into Mercedes crying. He was already in a bad mood due to the fact that he called Ms. Corcoran and she told him he couldn't see Beth. He felt like a Lima loser all over again until he ran into Mercedes. He put on his charm and since she was already feeling rejected by Sam Evans she caved to the Puckster. Then she got pregnant. He thought that that was his chance to finally do right, she'd always be there no matter what and he'd always have his kid. Norah was his daughter and he didn't care what a DNA said, but he felt like he just had to know. He got up, grabbed his coat and keys then his cell phone as it began to ring.

"Puckerman." he responded even though he knew who was calling. She was always calling. He wasn't sure why he thought screwing her was going to make life better for him but he did and now he was stuck. Stuck because she was demanding. She was not like Mercedes at all. She wasn't supportive. She wasn't even nice but she was a good lay so he cut her some slack.

"Where are you?" she asked immediately. "I've been waiting for you to come back. Did you do it? Did you tell her you're leaving?" Puck was in no mood to deal with her but he knew if he didn't say something she'd just keep calling. "I knew it! You couldn't leave her, huh?"

"Chill." Puck replied before opening his car door and hoping in. "She's moving out." Puck replied. Initially, Puck never had any intent to make Mercedes leave but he kept saying that he would to keep the charade going and have her on the side. But when he was faced with the reality that she wanted to really leave him, he couldn't bear it. If she left, she was going to leave with Norah. He refused to lose his daughter.

"Great, so I can start packing?" she asked but didn't wait for a response. "Want me to meet you there?"

"No. I'll call you when I'm ready. Norah and I are going for ice cream around the corner from the park. So I'll be there soon." Puck replied before hanging up then dialing another number.

"What's going on, Puck?"

"Hey Mike, I need a favor. Can I stop by for an emergency visit with Norah?"

"Yeah, I was just about to leave early. I'll wait up." Mike said before they hung up. Puck felt nervous as hell but he knew he had to do it.

* * *

 **Samyra**

If things were confusing for the adults, then things were even more confusing for Samyra. No one wanted to tell her anything. All they wanted to do was make her go to her room and do homework. She was tired of doing homework. She wanted to know what was going with her parents and Mr. Evans. Was he really her father and if he was what did that mean for her dad? What did it mean for her mother? And most of all, what did it mean for her. Those were the questions she wanted answered but her nana wouldn't answer any of her questions. The only way she learned things around the adults was by eavesdropping.

"Is that my dad?" she asked out loud to no one at all before running towards her window and peeking out the window. Usually she was happy to see her dad but things were different now. She watched him walk towards the door and knocked on the door. A few seconds later her nana opened the door. She rushed to her eavesdropping spot and double checked to make sure she wasn't caught.

"Hi, Mrs. Jones..."

"Uh...Noah, Mercedes isn't here right now." she stated cutting him off, keeping the door close to her.

"Oh okay. I uh...came for Norah actually." her father said. "Thought I'd take her out for ice cream." From where she hid to peek at them she could see her dad smiling from the crack in the door.

"Noah, look, I don't think this is a good time." she replied causing her dad's smile to slowly fade.

"With all due respect, Mrs. Jones, she's my daughter and if I want to take her out for ice cream, I think I can." he responded before taking a step towards the house. Samyra watched as her grandmother stepped closer to her father and pulled the door closer to her as she lowered her voice.

"And with all due respect, Puckerman, I am telling you this isn't a good time." They stared and remained silent for a long time before her father stepped back as if he was leaving then came back.

"She's my daughter."

"Noah, we really don't know..."

"Mrs. Jones, I am not trying to make things difficult." he said cutting her off. "I just want to spend time with my daughter. I may not have been the best for your daughter. And I get that you don't like me much. But, I was there every chance I got when she was in her mother's tummy. I was there when she made her mother sick. I was there holding her mother's hand at all the appointments. I worked double what I usually worked to make sure..." she heard his voice crack as he paused to recompose himself. "I was there for every thing. I taught her how to walk and ride a bike. I did that!" he stated slightly raising his voice.

"Keep your voice down, my husband is sleeping!"

"She's my daughter! MY DAUGHTER!" he shouted before slowly calming himself down. "I just want to take her out for ice cream before it gets too late." Samyra wasn't sure what made her do it but she stepped out and opened the door wider.

"Nana, can I please go with my dad?" Samyra gave her dad a smile as he tried to blink away what looked like tears. Her nana sighed then stepped aside as Samyra took her dad by his hand. She wasn't sure what was going between all the adults . And she wasn't sure if her dad wasn't really her father. One thing she knew was that things were about to change and she deserved some ice cream to prepare for it. "Thank you, nana."

"Thanks, Mrs. Jones and sorry...about everything." he said before they walked over to the car and drove away. The minute they were a few minutes away he got a call on his cell phone. "I'm still spending time with my daughter. I'll call you when I'm done." he said into the phone before hanging up and smiling her way. "Just me and you kid. We have one stop to do before we get ice cream. Okay?"

"That's cool, Dad." she replied with a smile. He looked over at her once she said that and smiled wider before turning down the road.

* * *

 **Kitty**

There were a couple things in this world that Kitty couldn't and children were high on that list. She always knew that she didn't want children and now she had to pretend to like one. Sure she was the one that suggested that Puckerman file for full custody. But it was only suggested because she hated Sam more now than she hated kids. The minute she got the job working for Puckerman she saw the family picture that he had of him with his daughter. A blind person could see that the little girl looked nothing of him. She looked like her mother but if you really looked and ignore the darker tanned skin, the little girl looked just like Sam's sister.

At first, she was just sleeping with Puckerman because he was definitely a hottie and she lied to Sam about her boss being older to avoid him getting jealous. But who was she kidding Sam didn't care about her. And he showed that the day he kicked her out. From then on, Kitty devised a plan. She got Puck to pay for a nice AirBnB not too far from the job so that she wouldn't have big commute. She didn't care when he whined about all the money he was spending on her. She was worth it and she told him she'd help him get full custody. If Sam was going to leave her for Mercedes then it would only be fair if she helped take away his only daughter.

"Puckerman's. Leave a message." she glared at the phone before tossing it to the ground. He'd been ignoring her calls ever since he hung up on her claiming he was spending time with his daughter. it's one thing to eliminate the competition, like she did when he was considering Lauren. But she couldn't compete with his child or the kid he thought was his child.

"Alright Puckerman, if you won't answer my calls..." she stood up and checked her makeup before placing a smile on her face. "...I guess it's time for ice cream. I've stayed quiet long enough. It's to get what's mine."

* * *

 **Sam**

Sam drove straight to the park without even asking if that's where she wanted to go. He didn't ask her anything to be honest. She sat so pensively next to him that he was afraid that she'd scream if he spoke to her. So, instead, he just drove until he reached the park and parked his car waiting for her to speak. He stared out beyond the trees to where the lake was and remembered the first time he brought her there. Times were simpler then and he thought they were forever. He still believed that they could be. He finally found the courage to reach over and placed his hand over hers.

"Mercedes, I know this is a lot to take in..."

"I should be saying that to you." she smiled before holding his hand then suddenly releasing it. Sam stared at it as if it were still being held by her hand. "Do you mind if we walk and talk. I'm trying to get my mind around all of this." He looked up at her and nodded slowly before jumping out the car then running over to open the door for her. "Sam, I can..."

"I know you can." he replied as he extended his hand to take hers in his. She looked done at his hands and he immediately remember the first time she took his hands in hers. Prior to that moment, he'd only seen her as one of the most talented within the glee club. Hell he could go as far as saying that she was the most talented and versatile singers within the club. And then they danced the night away and never looked back.

"I know what you're thinking Sam and this is not the time to go walking down memory lane." she stated as she allowed him to help her up. He closed the door behind her and quickly walked beside her.

"My mom always used to say, whenever you're lost and confused it's good to go back to the scene of the crime."

"You want to go back to my bedroom at my parents' house? Where Myra is just waiting with her ears pressed against the walls?"

"I guess you have a point there."Sam responded with a smirk. They fell silent again once they reached the edge of the lake and just stared into the lake. He had so many questions but he knew she was just as lost as he was. And to make matters worse she was still in denial. He looked over at her and wished he could get a glimpse of what she was thinking. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone to show her something that he felt would help her see what she refused to see. "I want to show you something." he began swiping through Facebook for frontal picture of Mercedes and one of his sister's. Then he went to one of those blend your face to see what your baby would look like apps. He first showed her a side by side picture of herself and Stacy. "What do you see?"

"Me and Stacy." she shrugged. He smiled as he could tell she was not seeing where he was going.

"My mom said the minute she saw the picture of Samyra, she knew." he pressed the button so that the app could do its thing then handed it to her. "Crazy, huh? You saw her every day and never saw me. I saw her in class and saw some signs but I chopped it up to the fact that maybe I just wished she was my child." he shook his head and looked over at her as she stared at the picture. It wasn't perfect the blended picture of Stacy and hers did look like Samyra. "Did you ever see me in her?" he asked as continued to stare at the picture before biting her bottom lip. From where he stood it looked as if it were trembling.

"For a while, I wished she were yours when I was pregnant and dating Puck." she replied as her voice cracked. "I would get so sick and thought maybe she was telling me she didn't like him but he stuck around, Sam. No matter the hell I put him through, he never left. I felt guilty whenever I thought of you. And now..." she paused as tears fell from her eyes. "I ruined everything. No matter what I do I'm going to hurt somebody. I've already hurt everybody." Sam quickly held her in his arms as she cried into his chest. "I didn't know, Sam. I really didn't know."

"I know." he replied. "No one really knew." he said as he tried to console her. "And we'll figure this all out. Together." In Sam's mind he's already envisioned life with just the three of them. He'd already began planning to make the spare room a room for Samyra and maybe give private lessons as work. He'd already made plans to contact Brody about allowing them to stay in Lima a while longer if they can travel every now and then to Memphis it would be best, he felt. He was stuck in his head that he didn't even notice that Mercedes was busy talking about Puck still.

"I don't know. Puck is already saying he wants to file for full custody if I try to pursue my dream. I don't want Samyra getting caught up in a custody battle, you know." she muttered in between tears before wiping them away and pulling away from Sam. "Puck has been a part of Myra's life since she was born and to take her from his is going to kill him." Sam stared at her in shock that she was worried about Puck in all this. What about him? He missed out on eight and a half years of her life. Puck wasn't her father as far as Sam was concerned. "Samyra's going to need her dad."

"Mercedes, I'm her father. What about what I missed out on? Doesn't she need me too?"

"I'm sorry this is all just too much for me right now, sorry. It's just going to be hard to pull her away from the only father she's ever known." Mercedes responded as she stepped closer to him again. "This is going to be a long journey for all of us and we need to be patient. As tough as this may be on us, it's tougher on her." Sam knew she was right and wished he could just jump into the dad role and be there for her. But he knew he needed to follow whatever Mercedes said at this point.

"What's the plan then? We're going to share custody with Puck?" Sam asked.

"I think we can all work something out but I think Puck's going to be the issue. He wasn't too happy about me breaking things off and my plans to leave." Mercedes replied as she stared out at the water. She looked out at the water as if all the answers to their problems would be there. "We're going to have many disagreements if we decide to co-parent."

"So, what does that mean for us?" Sam asked. He'd been thinking about having this conversation since Memphis. At that point he only wanted to know about a relationship with her but after finding out that he was a father, he just felt they needed to be together. If Samyra could see them together as a unit it would make the transition easier.

"Sam, I can't think about us right now with all this crazy going on."

"Wouldn't it help make it...less crazy?" Sam asked as he pulled her close. Mercedes slowly moved away and shook her head at him before firmly pushing him away further.

"This is how we got into the situation we're in right now." she replied. If memory served him well the reason they were in the situation they were in was due to his parents ruining his life and pulling him away from her. "If I didn't jump into a relationship with Puck after you left then none of this would have happened."

"I still would have been in Tennessee without you."

"And if I hadn't blocked you then you possibly could have told me that you were planning on coming back for me. I should have waited for you."

"I didn't really leave you with anything worth waiting for, Mercedes. I didn't try hard enough." Sam responded as he mentally wished they could go back in time and fix everything.

"Our timing is always wrong." Mercedes responded before sighing. "We can never get it right."

"Is that why you left me in Memphis?" Sam asked the other question that had been bugging him since Memphis. She looked at him and sighed as if she really didn't want to get into it but letting it out anyway.

"You were going to fast for me, Sam. I was technically still with Puck and sleeping with you and you were practically proposing to me. I cheated and that's not something I do Sam."

"I didn't mean to do make you..."

"I messed up, Sam.I did. I keep messing up." her voice cracked again. "I just jumped right into things without even thinking things thoroughly then and I almost did that with you in Memphis. That's not me, Sam. None of this is me. I completely lost myself and ruined others life on my way down."

"Mercedes."

"No, Sam. If we are to truly be focused on Samyra. We can't be together. Not yet. Not right now. It isn't fair to her and I don't want to confuse her anymore than I have already done." Mercedes quickly wiped her tears away and looked away from Sam. He hated to admit that she was right. As much as he wanted to be with her it might ruin the time building he needed to focus on with Samyra. Although he wanted to focus on Samyra, he didn't want to give up on Mercedes either.

"What about our music?" Sam asked causing a smile to creep up on her face. "I mean, I can do a great impression of your voice but Brody's bound to notice since a few things missing."

"We can still work on our music." Mercedes replied with a genuine smile before walking over to him as he wrapped his arms around her. Although things didn't end the way he wanted to he was happy that it ended amicably. Which means there was still a chance that they can fix it later. "Wanna go for some sundaes?"

"Sundaes? You know there's no tea flavor, right?" Sam smiled as he moved before she could jab him.

"Like Samyra would say. I think I deserve a treat right now."

"You really do." he replied with a smile as they walked back towards his car. "We have to go dutch though. I lost my job recently for going all Maury Polvich in a school yard."

"I really wanna punch you for that but I am sad about you losing your job. I told Puck not to do it. What are you going to do?"

"I will figure it out. Don't worry about me. I will not be my dad." Sam said proudly as he opened the car door for her. "Speaking of losing my job, did you tell Tina I was a stripper in Kentucky?"

* * *

 **Must be an ice cream kinda day lol...by the way this was a bonus chapter because it was requested for a POV chapter. It will be returning back to SAMCEDES focus from here on out as they try to figure this out. Don't worry and don't give up on Samcedes and Samyra.**

 *****I have to say the news about Mark Salling really makes me want to change the direction I had for Puck in this story but I decided that I will ignore the actor. I just cannot. And also I kept forgetting how to spell Myra's middle name, forgive me lol but I'm too lazy to go back and change it.*****


	16. Chapter 16

**Samyra**

Samyra felt anxious and bored as she sat inside of the clinic waiting for Dr. Chang to come back in. He'd already came in and stuck a cotton swab inside of her mouth the promptly left leaving her with her dad. Her father was obviously nervous as he paced around the room with the occasional smile thrown her way. She knew why he was nervous and if she could really grasp the magnitude of what was happening around her, she'd be just as nervous. However, she wasn't. She wanted ice cream and that's all she really cared about. To her, having Mr. Evans as her father as well meant that she would have two cool dads. If anyone asked her, and they never did, she would tell them that nothing had to change.

"When are we going to go to the ice shop?" she asked then continued to watch him pace back and forth. "Dad!" she shouted to get his attention then frowned when he finally looked her way.

"Mike's coming back any second now." he replied then smiled when the door opened to show Mike walking in with chart in his hand. "See. He's here." he added then they both stepped to the side as they continued to talk as if she wasn't able to hear them. "So, Mike, how quick can you get me these results?"

"Puck, man, are you sure you want to do this? These results might not go in the way that you want them to, you know." Dr. Chang said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know all that I am risking. I just need to know for my own peace of mind." he replied before looking back at Samyra. She pretended as if she was looking at one of the pamphlets that were inside of the room but she was listening. "Look, I have a plan."

"A plan?" Dr. Chang asked as he looked at her father with a look of concern in his eyes. "You're not trying to run away with her, are you?" she watched as her father shook his head then pulled him further away.

"No. I'm not crazy." he replied. "I'm going to call Quinn for legal advice. After what we went through with Beth, she kind of owes me."

"You got her pregnant her sophomore year after getting her drunk. I think it's safe to say that you owe her more than she owes you." Dr. Chang replied then sighed when he noticed the look of defeat in her father's eyes. "Hey, you know what...these results might eliminate any of that. I'm sending them with a rush order so that you get them as soon as we can. How about you wait for them to come in and then decide then what you want to do next. Mercedes has always been level headed, I'm sure she will work with you. She's not going to take Samyra from you." he looked over at Samyra and nodded for her to come to him.

"Thanks Mike." he gave Mike a pat on the back then stuck his hand out for Samyra to take. "Let's go get that ice dream." he took her by the hand then smiled causing Samyra to smile back at him. She could tell the smile on his face was forced and that he was afraid of how things would change, but she knew things would be fine. She held on to his hands tight and leaned into before smiling wider at him.

"Thank you, daddy! I love you." she added to see if he fake smile would become a bit more genuine.

"I love you too, and I hope you remember that." he replied as they walked out.

Moments later, they arrived at the ice cream shop and her father told her she could get whatever she wanted. Normally he would allow her to get two scoops and her mother would tell her not to get anything crazy. She wasn't there, so Samyra decided to go all out. She requested a hot fudge brownie sundae with all the toppings that she liked. He didn't purchase anything but suggested that they sit on the tables that were outside instead. Samyra didn't care. She just wanted to enjoy her ice cream and that was what she did as he just stared at her lovingly.

"Do you want some?" she asked, leaning forward to give him a spoonful just as a blonde woman came walking over to them and sat next to her father. Samyra watched as her father immediately jumped up and pulled her to the side.

"Whoa Kitty! What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came to join you both for ice cream. I figured you wouldn't have told me where you would be if you didn't want me to be here as well." Kitty replied with a smile as she looked over at Samyra. "You know what? She's a cutie, but even I can see that is Sam all the way."

"No one asked you." her father replied as he glared at her. "And this is not the time or the place for you to just pop up."

"Why not?" she asked. "She needs to meet me anyway. I'm going to be a part of her life soon, right?" she smiled at him then sauntered over to where Samyra was pretending to be consumed by her sundae. She knelt down to her level and smiled widely. "Hey there cutie pie, I'm Kitty. I've been wanting to meet you for a while." Kitty said as she extended her hand towards her. Samyra stared at Kitty's hand then looked over to her father as he reluctantly resat in his seat.

"What kind of name is Kitty? How old are you?" Samyra asked before looking over at her dad. "You're not trying to adopt her as your daughter to replace me, are you?" Kitty pulled her hand back then stood before glaring down at Samyra.

"No darling. We may both call him daddy at times but I will not be his daughter just like you..."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Her father asked before snatching her away. "Don't you dare ever talk to my daughter that way, you hear me!" Samyra could hear her father say and before Kitty could reply back, Samyra spotted her mother stomping towards them. Her father and Kitty were too busy arguing to notice that she was stomping towards them. And close behind her was Mr. Evans. Something told Samyra that she'd better hurry up and enjoy the sundae because this was not going to be pretty.

* * *

 **Sam**

Mercedes stared out the window and from where Sam sat he could tell her mind was on overdrive. Hell, his mind was also on overdrive. He needed to know what the right moves were. He didn't want to ruin things with Mercedes and he definitely didn't want to ruin things with Samyra. He was ready to step up to the plate and be the father he never had. The only issue with the entire scenario was the fact that he would have to deal with Puck and his feelings. If he was too pushy with Puck, it might push Samyra away and cause major issues all-around. And if he wasn't pushy, they might over look him. He looked over at Mercedes and knew that if he was to ever get her back as well he would have to follow her lead.

"You okay over there?" Sam asked and smiled when she looked his way and nodded. She was on the brink of saying something when her phone rang and she immediately answered.

"Hey mom, we should be there soon." Mercedes said. "Wait what? Why did you let him take her?" she asked causing Sam to look over with concern. "Yeah I get he's still her father but..."

"Hold on, Puck took Samyra?" Sam asked while Mercedes raised a finger up his way.

"Okay mom, thanks. I think I know where he took her. Sam and I are heading towards that ice cream shop." she replied before hanging up and massaging her temples. Sam was still worried and wanted to know what was going on. "Puck took her to the Brusters' that we're heading to, so just go straight." Although Mercedes seemed calmer than before it didn't calm him down one bit. What would stop Puck from taking Samyra without talking to them first. This was already heading towards a rocky start and Sam didn't like it one bit.

"What are we going to do about Puck?"

"What do you mean?" she asked then sighed as she looked over at him. "I mean, Sam, he's still her father." Sam was not thinking that she would have responded with that. He thought she'd say that they would work something out.

"But,"

"We have only speculated that there may be a possibility that you might be her father."

"Mercedes, seriously?"

"Look, until the DNA test we will just have to wait before throwing around rules."

"So basically, I'm shut out again?" Sam asked as he turned into the parking lot of the ice cream parlor. The minute he got closer to the shop, he noticed Kitty and Puck talking to each other. "What the hell is she doing here?" Sam asked while pulling into a parking spot. He didn't completely park the car as Mercedes jumped out and charged towards them. "Mercedes, wait up!" Sam shouted before parking the car and jumping out to follow her.

"Don't you dare ever talk to my daughter that way, you hear me!" Sam heard Puck shouting at Kitty. Sam never knew that Puck even knew Kitty, but knowing her, he should have guessed it.

"What did you say to my daughter?" Mercedes asked as she glared at Kitty. Sam walked over to where Samyra sat while continuing to eat her ice cream quickly as if someone was going to take it from her.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"First off, Mercedes, I got this." Puck said as he pushed her aside then turned towards Sam and glared at him. "And secondly, she's fine! She's with her father." Sam wanted to correct him but after what Mercedes said in the car he was on the fence. It was pretty obvious that he was the father but no one seemed to care that he was hurting through this as well. He thought Mercedes was getting it but she just kept flip flopping through what she felt or knew was right.

"Look I don't want to start any drama..."

"Yeah, right, you don't? You started all of this at the school yard."

"Last I checked you came at me." Sam replied as he stepped closer to Puck.

"Oh, I am loving this." Kitty said as she crossed her arms and smiled at the trio. "I mean, I knew all of this would happen but I didn't know it would be this soon. I thought you'd probably try to use your keys and I'd be inside that pretty little home of yours."

"Puck, what's this trick talking about?" Mercedes asked.

"Wait a minute? You haven't told her?" Kitty asked as she pretended to look shocked. Sam could tell she was up to no good. He looked over at Puck and the look on his face definitely showed signs that something was up. "Well, it's time we let the kitty out of the bag." she smiled before walking towards Mercedes. "You see, while you were parading around with _my_ boyfriend..." she paused to look over at Sam. "Puck here had me stashed away in a nice Air BnB across town. Sure at first he hired me for administrative things but, I figured I'd help him in other areas too." Sam could see Mercedes thinking about what Kitty was saying and it was making her angrier then the situation at hand.

"Oh hell to the no, Puck! That's where all our money went?" Mercedes asked as she glared at Puck. "Seriously? You are unbelievable."

"I can explain." Puck replied as he noticed the look of pure anger on Mercedes' face as well.

"You can explain? How are you going to explain spending our finances on some trick?"

"Excuse me?" Kitty asked. Sam walked over to her and sighed as he looked at her. He wished that he would have told her not to follow him to Lima. Her being there and playing games with everyone was his fault.

"Kitty, what are you doing? You are better than this." Sam said as he tried to reason with her. He knew deep down that she wasn't better than this. In fact, this was exactly how she was. If she didn't get her way she did what ever she felt to get even.

"Am I really?" Kitty asked with a smirk. "You really thought that you would kick me out for her and I would just lay back and take it?"

"Kitty, this is people's livelihood that you are messing with. And my daughter's life."

"Oh spare me." she replied before rolling her eyes. "A few weeks ago you didn't even know you had a child. She doesn't need you. She's perfectly fine calling Puck daddy just like I've been."

"Puck, you better get your girl. The only reason I haven't pummeled her face in is because Myra is sitting right there." Mercedes threatened through gritted teeth. "And if you think you're going to have Samyra around her...you got another thing coming." Sam could tell right then how much Puckerman had cared about Samyra. The thought of losing her was evident in his eyes. Puck immediately pulled Kitty aside.

"Okay that's enough, Kitty!"Puck said. "You need to leave."

"Wait what now?" Kitty asked in shock. "Are you going to take the keys from her then drive me home?"

"No. I'm not taking you anywhere." Puck responded. "You will not cost me my daughter." he added as he glared at her before shoving her away lightly. "Call yourself and Uber."

"Alright, I know when I'm not wanted but don't be confused." She turned to leave then stopped to look back at Sam then Mercedes. "I'm not the one costing you your daughter." They all watched as she stormed off before they turned to look at Samyra. Throughout the whole ordeal she was busy stuffing her face with ice cream. She had no idea what was going on. As much as he was happy to now have knowledge of a daughter, he would do anything to go back to when all they shared was the love of arts. Although she looked indifferent as she ate her ice cream, he knew soon it would all dawn on her the magnitude of it all.

"Baby, finish up that ice cream. We're leaving." Mercedes said as pushed past Puck. "You had no right! No right!" she mumbled before sitting down next to Samyra and wiping her face with a wet wipe.

"She's right Puck, you should have at least asked her." Sam interjected.

"I've never had to ask permission to take my own child to get ice cream." Puck replied.

"Why are you lying?" Mercedes asked as she looked his way. "Then again, look who I am talking to. All you do is lie."

"And you're so innocent?" Puck asked. "What's been going on with you and Sam, huh?" he asked. Samyra suddenly looked at Mercedes then over at Sam before looking at Puck. This conversation should not happen in front of her.

"Oh don't even try to turn this out on me." she stood up and went back towards Puck to make sure Samyra wasn't hearing it all. "You've been unfaithful every day that we've been together. I've just never really had proof."she stopped once Sam came over and placed his hand on her shoulder. That simple touch that seemed to have calmed her down did the complete opposite to Puck. "This isn't the time nor the place for this." she sighed before looking around.

"Look, I got rid of Kitty. She's not part of Norah's life. So, until the DNA test..."

"You got a DNA test?" Sam asked in shock. This definitely surprised him. He was wondering when the right time to ask for one would have been. He felt his heart skip a beat knowing that soon all the guessing would be put to rest.

"Yeah I got one! I went to Mike and got it done. We'll get the results soon." Puck responded before stepping toe to toe with Sam. "Until they come back and say otherwise, she is our daughter and none of your business." They both glared at each other, Sam, not wanting to step back held his ground. He was prepared to say anything back but was interrupted by Samyra stepping between them and holding both of their hands.

"Until the results...why can't we do this together?" Samyra asked with shy smile. Sam looked down at her small hands holding on to his and for the first time he really felt like a father. She looked up at him and smiled wider before holding his tighter. He smiled back at her and never wanted to let go of it again.

"I'm willing, if they are." Sam responded as he looked up at Mercedes who was staring at Samyra like a proud mother that she was. He turned his gaze towards Puck who was still glaring at him and extended his hand. "What'd ya say?"

"Come on, daddy, please?" Samyra begged. Sam wondered when or if she'd ever call him daddy. He was definitely going to need help dealing with all this. "You said that you would call your lawyer friend Quinn, remember?"

"You called Quinn?" Mercedes asked. All this time they'd been back, he hadn't heard much about Quinn. Seeing her again would be great for them especially since she's a lawyer. She'd be the only unbiased person between them.

"I haven't but I will." Puck replied. "We're going to need all the counsel we can get." he sighed then took Sam's hand and shook it. He wasn't sure if this meant they were on good terms but Sam knew that this was just the beginning. He now had to deal with finding a job, trying to make sure they don't lose the music deal during this ordeal then get Mercedes and Samyra back for good.

* * *

 **Hey everyone sorry it's been so long. I kind of struggled with this chapter. I've had it written for some time and just kept removing and adding till I couldn't add no more lol. This journey for the 4 of them is just getting started. And you can only imagine the struggle they are about to have when it comes to Samyra. Also, the results will be in the next chapter and it will be a small time jump and a surprise coming soon.**

 **to the reviews, I will answer a few:**

 **Juju: Yes Kitty showed her ugly ways. lol**

 **Mowatts: Mark Salling sure makes me sick so I am trying to block out the actor and focus on the character.**

 **Sadhappy: I think they are chosing not to see it because it complicates things. Mercedes, because then she would have to face the fact that she kept Sam away from his daughter and Puck, because he spent years being a father to another man's child. Sam's already prepared to be her father. And Puck just refuses to lose another child.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A few weeks later-**

It had been a few weeks since that day at the ice cream shop. The results had since been in and confirmed that Puck was not the father as they all suspected. And as planned, they called Quinn for advice. She advised that she would mediate to help them come down with a plan. Mercedes felt as if she were in a nightmare that would never end as she remembered the day they all went in to see Quinn. She was already feeling extremely fatigued but she put on a brave face and listened as Quinn explained how mediation would go. Puck looked as if he was grinding his teeth down to the gums and Sam seemed anxious and nervous. Mercedes hated that she was the reason that they were there to begin with but she really just wanted to curl up in her bed and sleep the day away. For the better half of mediation Puck and Sam disagreed with practically everything. Mercedes barely spoke as she felt that even the slightest interjection to agree with either side would have the both of them upset with her. She was damned if she did and damned if she didn't.

"Alright so with the holidays closing in, I know that another thing we might have issues with is who will Samyra spend those holidays with for Thanksgiving, Christmas and so forth." Quinn stated as she looked at each of them then settled on Mercedes. "Mercedes, are you okay? You look a bit drained?"

"I'm fine. I just didn't get much sleep last night." she lied. The minute she walked in she told her mother that she would take a quick nap and didn't wake up till the morning. Even with twelve hours of sleep, she still woke up feeling as if she could sleep some more.

"I get it, let's try and make this quick and painless. So, Thanksgiving and Christmas, what are we thinking?"

"Well, there are a couple Jewish practices that I want her to continue observing with my family." Puck replied causing Mercedes to roll her eyes. Puck never really observed any of the Jewish practices before. She knew he was only doing this to force something that was pointless.

"What about the Christian faith that we both follow? Wouldn't his beliefs contradict what we believe?" Sam asked as he leaned closer to Mercedes and looked to her for an alliance. All though she hated to take sides on this, she had to agree with Sam. She always took Samyra to church with her and Puck rarely took her to anything religious.

"Puck, I'm sorry but I have to agree with Sam. Samyra has always followed our faith."

"Maybe it's time she met her Jewish side..."

"She's not even Jewish." Sam mumbled under his breath causing Puck to stop and look over at Quinn. Mercedes sighed before swiftly kicking Sam's feet from under the table. "Ouch!" he looked over to her as she pretended that she didn't just kick him.

"Why don't we put a pin in this? Religion is a touchy subject. What we are doing here today is a touchy subject but we're here because we all love Samyra, right? Let's remember that, okay?" Quinn reminded them as she moved on to what she thought would be an easier subject. Mercedes felt her head spinning and just wanted to agree to everything, but the issue wasn't about her. It was about them. Puck and Sam just couldn't understand or didn't want to give in to completely sharing their daughter. "Mercedes, are you sure you're okay?" Quinn asked again causing both Puck and Sam to finally take in how tired she looked.

"You want to take a break?" Sam asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder. She wanted to scream that she wasn't. She wanted to say that they needed to figured this out between the two of them and just let her know what they decided when she woke up, but she didn't.

"I'm fine, let's just get this over with." she replied with a forced smile before looking over to Puck. "Look, I am willing to budge on a lot of things but you know how important my faith is and you never objected before. On the days that you have Samyra, you can enjoy doing whatever you want as long as it doesn't interfere with our faith."

"I hear a lot of _ours_ and _we's,_ he has an unfair advantage, Quinn." Puck stated. "She's boinking him so she'll always take his side over everything."

"Excuse me?"

"Wait, Sam, Mercedes, is this true? Are you two back together?" Quinn asked with a smile of approval on her face.

"We're focusing on..."

"We are not back together." Mercedes interjected before Sam could finish his sentence. "Puck, this has nothing to do with me and Sam. And I am not siding with Sam on anything. It's not my fault that Sam and I have so much in common..."

"Bullshit! Ever since he came back to town its been Sam this and Sam that. He couldn't wait to take you from me and now he's doing whatever he can to take Norah from me!" Puck shouted as he slammed his fist on the desk.

"Her name is Samyra!" Sam shouted back. "She's my daughter so damn right I want to have her in my life. I'm her dad!"

"No you're her father. I'm her dad!" Puck shouted back as he glared at Sam. "No matter what you do you will always be Mr. Evans to her!" The room fell silent as the two men glared at each other then suddenly Sam stood up and walked out of the room.

"Puck!" Quinn stated as Mercedes jumped up to follow behind Sam. He didn't make it too far down the hallway before Mercedes caught up to him and pulled him by his arm to stop him. Mercedes eyes filled with tears the minute she saw that Sam's eyes were filled as well.

"He's right, you know."

"No he's not, and don't let him think that he is." Mercedes said as she reached up and wiped his eyes. "He's just hurting and he wants you to hurt as well."

"Well he's won. Samyra will always see me as just her teacher and he has so much history with her already. Why would I even expect her to think of me as anyone else but her teacher."

"I'm sorry, Sam." Mercedes said for what she felt was the millionth time. After the whole ice cream scenario, Sam had begun spending more time with Samyra and she was still calling him Mr. Evans. Each time she said it, Mercedes could see that Sam was hurt by it as he plastered a phony smile to cover it and each time she would say that she was sorry.

"You don't have to keep apologizing, Mercedes." he replied with a smile before placing his arm around her shoulder and guiding her back to the room. "Come on, let's get this thing over with so you can take that nap that you're silently begging for." Mercedes smiled back and wrapped her arm around him as well as they made their way back to the room.

That was a week ago, hours of sleeping and for some odd reason Mercedes was still out of energy but she had other things to focus on today. Sam began giving music lessons while working with Mercedes on the songs they were recording for Brody. Mercedes was grateful when Brody was still willing to work with them while they recorded in Ohio, but he advised them that they would soon have to make a decision about coming to Memphis. Sam didn't push it and he didn't push their relationship either. Mercedes was happy that he focused completely on Samyra but there were times, like today, when they were alone where she wondered about them. She understood that she was the one that told them to pump the brakes on seeing where things would go for them, but she thought that Sam would still attempt to make a move on her. The moment she realized that he wouldn't she began to act awkward around him. She tried to make sure that she wasn't acting different around him and that only caused her to act even more awkward and lose focus at times.

"Mercedes?" Sam said as he snapped his finger in her face till she blinked repeatedly and smiled at him. "Your phone was just ringing and I think it was Puckerman." he held the phone out for her. She knew it meant that he was on the way to drop Samyra off at Sam's. Puck was adjusting with sharing responsibilities as a dad with Sam but he still struggled with the idea of calling Sam to say that he was on his way. Since he knew that Mercedes was usually with Sam, he would call or text her and she would relay the message to Sam.

"Yeah it was him. I'll just text him that we're here." she replied as she quickly sent Puck a text message then made her way up the stairs before looking back to see if Sam was watching her backside sway. Unfortunately, he was busy tuning up his guitar. She was so focused on looking back at him that she almost missed a step. "Oh Snap..."

"Hey, are you alright?" Sam asked as he finally looked up at her as she awkwardly giggled before stepping out the door.

"Get it together, Mercedes!" she said to herself before rushing towards the front door and opening it. Once she opened the door, Puckerman pulled in and parked the car then jumped out with Samyra. "You know you can just text or call Sam when you're on the way, right?" Mercedes said as she met him half way and took the bags he had from him. Samyra hugged her mother before making a mad dash towards the house.

"Why? You're always right under him." Puck responded. "When's the wedding?" he asked sarcastically.

"Chill. I'm only always here because we're working on a couple songs." Mercedes replied before stepping back towards the house. "Do you wanna come inside and listen?" she offered, not because she wanted him to take her up on the offer but because she knew he would decline.

"I'd rather dry hump a cactus." he responded dryly before hopping back into his car. Mercedes glared at him as he drove off then continued to make her way back into the house. As she was entering the house, she couldn't help but smile as Sam scooped up Samyra and spun her around. He did this practically every time she came over and each time she would giggle and beg to be put down. She leaned on the wall and just stared at them as she giggled.

"I missed you." Sam said as he hugged her tight.

"I was just here the other day." she replied but hugged him back with her eyes closed tight displaying that she really missed him a lot. Since finding out that Sam could have been her father, they'd been slightly inseparable especially with her drawing. Sam had personalize her bedroom so that she had her own room when she spent the night. Between Sam tutoring on the side for money, working with Mercedes on her music and helping Samyra with her drawing, Mercedes couldn't understand how Sam wasn't tired. Why was she the tired one of the two?

"I'm a little jealous. You didn't hug me that tight when you saw me." Mercedes said causing the two to look her way. Sam slowly put Samyra down then walked over to Mercedes and smiled.

"My bad, come here girl." he said as he pulled her in for a hug.

"Not you, you goof!" she said as she tried to playfully push him away. Sam held her close and pretended to blow bubbles on her neck as she continued to push him. Although she was pretending to not enjoy what he was doing, she couldn't help that she was slightly turned on. "I was talking about Samyra!" she shouted as she finally freed herself then ran over to grab Samyra who was busy laughing at her parents. "Gimme hugs." she demanded before pulling Samyra in for a hug. Sam took that opportunity to jump in for a group hug.

"Let me get in on this hug." Sam said as he wrapped his arms around the two of them. "My two girls." she heard him mumble under his breath. She looked over at him and smiled before leaning her head on his shoulder. He held her tighter for a brief second before clearing his throat and loosening up his grip. "Uh...sorry, so Samyra, I am sure you got some homework that needs to be done. Your mom and I got some recording to do."

"Aww, can't I go downstairs and listen to mommy sing?" Samyra whined. Mercedes was enjoying the moment they were having but Sam was right, they had a lot of work to do.

"Samyra, listen to your father." she replied as Samyra frowned then looked over to Sam. "Don't look at him. He's not going to change his mind." Mercedes added as she looked over at Sam.

"Just one song, please, after that I will go do my homework. Today is Friday." Samyra continued to beg.

"I don't know, Samyra..."

"Come on, Dad, just one song, please!" she pleaded before smiling and wiggling her eyebrows. Mercedes knew that Samyra had got some wrapped around his finger with that sentence. The look on his face said it all. He was a goner. She called him Dad as if she knew he'd been waiting for it.

"Sam...don't..."

"Look, just one song and then she'll be back in her room doing her homework." Sam replied as Samyra jumped for joy and right into Sam's arms. He started walking towards the stairs and looked back at Mercedes with a wide smile. Mercedes shook her head in amazement but followed behind them anyway. She was happy for Sam but she needed to tell him that he can't let Samyra manipulate him because she will.

* * *

Later that evening, Sam sat and listened to Mercedes sing the song they wrote together effortlessly. Normally, he would be hypnotized by her voice but his mind kept replaying Samyra calling him Dad. He knew she used it to get him to let her do something she wanted to do but it was something he'd been waiting forever to hear it. After they allowed her to come down and listen to one song she eventually listened to more than one. Finally after she began rubbing her eyes, Sam and Mercedes marched her straight to her bedroom. Sam was proud of her bedroom since he'd put so much effort in making it perfect for her. He stopped near the doorway and watched as Mercedes tucked her in bed and told her that she would have to do her homework in the morning.

"Alright, baby, sleep tight. Love you."

"Love you too, mom." she mumbled and watched as Mercedes walked towards the door and reached for the lights. "Can you keep the lights on, please?" Mercedes looked back at her and smiled before giving Sam a pat on the back.

"We need to talk."

"Uh...okay." Sam replied nervously as he watched her walk off. He was always afraid of hearing those four words and he had no idea what he did this time. "Good night, Samyra!" he added before pulling the door slightly shut.

"Dad?"

"Yes." Sam immediately said opening the door and rushing to her side of the bed. Samyra smiled up at him then sat up to give him a hug. Sam hugged her back and smiled as he held her tight. "Are you okay?"

"Thank you for letting me stay up. I never get to hear mom sing like that." she admitted.

"I'm sure your mother enjoyed having you with us but she didn't like you using me to go against what we said for you to do, you know that right?"

"Yeah, I know. I do that a lot with my dad too." she admitted. Sam tried not to react to her calling Puck dad but it was too late to fake it as she caught how uncomfortable he became. "Is it okay if I still call him my dad too?" she asked. All of this was new to Sam and if he was having a hard time with it, he knew she was having an even harder time with it all.

"Yeah...sure, it's perfect. It's cool." he smirked and tried to tuck her back in. "There are kids out there who don't have a father in their lives and you just happen to have two of them that love you very much."

"I guess that's pretty cool."

"It's pretty awesome. I wish I had that growing up."

"Yeah? What is your dad like?" she asked causing Sam to remember the way his parents took the news of hearing that he was in fact Samyra's father. His mother was excited and stated that she couldn't wait to meet her and his father was indifferent about the whole thing. Sam wasn't sure if he was expecting his father to turn around but he was a bit saddened when he wouldn't even come to the phone at all.

"He's the complete opposite of me and a conversation for another time, okay." Sam replied as he stood up and made his way towards the door. "Your mom is waiting for me downstairs." he added.

"Okay." she replied with a sigh before looking his way once again. "Are you and mom going to get married?" she asked. Although it was something that Sam had thought about since they were in high school he knew this wasn't the right time for it. There was no way that she would say yes if he'd propose to her. Hell, she wanted them to focus completely on Samyra and put their relationship on hold. Since then, Sam had respected her wishes and hadn't brought it back up.

"We're just focused on you right now." Sam replied before placing his hand on the light switch. "I'm going to turn off the lights but leave the hallway light on with the door opened okay?"

"Okay." she replied as she blinkingly turned to her side and smiled at Sam. "Hey, Dad..." she said once again causing Sam to smile even wider as he turned to her. "I love you too." he stood at her doorway and just stood there in shock as she slowly closed her eyes. He wished that he was able to record that moment just so that he could replay it over and over again or possibly make it a ringtone. Finally, he took a deep breath and made his way to the studio for the conversation Mercedes wanted to have. When he got down there she was cuddled up on the sofa that he had down there with her eyes closed. He wasn't sure what it was but she seemed to have been tired all the time. He wondered if he was pushing her too much to get the songs recorded for Brody or if she was under stress with everything that was happening with Samyra. Either way she looked adorable on the couch and he didn't want to wake her for that talk that she wanted to have. He reached for a blanket to cover her but stopped when her eyes flew opened.

"Oh, you're awake."

"Yeah, I was just blinking."

"That was an extended blinking that most of us call sleeping." Sam stated with a grin before sitting down next to her. She chuckled then playfully swatted his arm before leaning her head on his shoulder. "Are you too tired to record?"

"I think we got some good recordings in, right?" she asked before completely leaning into him then rapped her arms around him.

"If you're too tired, yeah." he replied as he looked down at her. There were times that he wasn't sure what was going on with Mercedes. She seemed to have been extremely touchy and though he wanted to react to her he remembered that they needed to focus on Samyra. "So, uh, are you sleeping...over?" Sam asked as he felt her hands slowly rub his midsection. If what she wanted was to keep things on a friendly level for the two of them, this was definitely not working. He was struggling with trying to keep from ravishing her right there but he was able to maintain, barely.

"Hmmm, maybe nap for a few minutes before I head home. I don't want Samyra catching me here overnight. Don't want to confuse things with her."

"I think she's already assumed that we are back together." Sam replied. "Or getting back together."

"What? What do you mean?" Mercedes asked as she sat up quickly and looked at him with sudden concern. "Did you say something to her or something?"

"No...I think she just can sense that we are kind of close." Sam responded as he looked down at her. "What's wrong with us getting back together now?"

"When we meet up with Quinn again, I don't want her to think things about us. Puck already thinks I'm favoring you over him." she slowly inched away from him as she looked at him.

"We all know you favor me over him, Mercedes." Sam responded with a smirk. He pretended to ignore the glare that she was sending his way. "Or have I been misreading your flirtation recently?"

"Flirtation? I have not been flirting." she replied without looking his way. Sam could tell when she was lying and decided to tease her a bit longer to see how long she could keep it up.

"Oh so you normally rub on my abs when fall asleep on this sofa?" he asked with a smile as he looked at her waiting for her to break. She sat stiffly beside him before finally looking over at Sam then leaping on to him before he could react. He didn't waste time wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as they deepened the kiss. "I'm guessing that's a yes?" he asked as she pulled away and rolled her eyes at him. He smiled as she stood up and took his hand before guiding him towards the stairs.

"Shut up, Sam." she replied with a smile before making their way up the stairs then straight to his bedroom. Sam quickly closed the door behind him as he watched her remove her clothing slowly. She took her time folding each article of clothing and placing them on the nightstand before walking over to his drawer and grabbing one of his old button down jerseys. She placed it on then continued back towards the bed. Sam quickly removed his shirts, throwing them wherever they landed before pulling up behind her. He placed one of her arms up as he grabbed on of her breast and slid his free hand down her midsection till it was between her legs. She tilted her head back and moaned before biting her bottom lip while Sam placed kisses on her shoulder. She turned to kiss him before crawling onto the bed then smiled before calling him over seductively. Sam wasn't sure what got into Mercedes but he was loving it. He quickly removed his pants and socks then tossed them to the ground before climbing onto the bed with her. He took a nice grip of her thighs as she wrapped it around him then kissed her softly on her lips. She ran her fingers through his hair with one hand while her other hand pulled down his boxers.

"I've missed your lips." Sam mumbled between kisses.

"I've missed yours too." she replied before tapping him on his shoulder. "Condoms? Don't forget the condoms." she reminded him. Sam looked at her in shock then nodded before reaching over in his nightstand to grab a condom. He quickly ripped it opened and placed it on before pushing her legs back. Mercedes wasted no time to reach down and guide him inside of her. "Sam..." she muttered then held on to him with her eyes closed as he slowing penetrated her deeper. He remained inside of her motionless as he stared down at her. He needed to marry her before he lost her again. He never wanted to lose her again even though he wasn't sure if he had her back now. She opened her eyes and noticed that he was just starting at her. "Sam?"

He wanted to tell her that he loved her and never wanted to lose her again. He wanted to tell her that they belonged together and should move to Memphis with Samyra. He needed her to know that he needed her and Samyra more than anything in the world. He wanted to tell her so many things that he knew would cause her to pull away from him. She wasn't ready for him, so he just held her tight and made love to her till they both fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Mercedes was awakened by Sam pulling her closer to him while kissing her shoulders. She could tell that he was trying to go for another round. She looked at the time and figured that they were able to go one more round before Samyra woke up to find them in bed together. She turned over to get on top of him then felt a bubbling sensation in the pit of her stomach. She sat up and placed her hand over her lips as she felt the contents of her tummy about to make its debut. Sam looked at her quizzically before she hopped off of him and ran towards the bathroom. She slammed the door shut as she prepared herself to puke then frowned when nothing happened. She stared at the toilet for a second wondering if she would gag again but when it didn't happen she made her way back to the sink. She splashed water over her face and some mouthwash since she didn't have her toothbrush with her.

"Hey, Mercedes, are you okay in there?" Sam asked and just as she was about to answer him she heard the bedroom door open then Samyra's voice. "Hey good morning sweets!" she heard Sam say. She knew that if he was naked he wouldn't have sounded that way.

"Where's mom?" she heard Samyra ask as she leaned her ear on the door.

"She's probably fell asleep down in the studio. Did you check there?"

"She's not there. I looked." she heard Samyra say before what she supposed was Samyra jumping on the bed.

"Hmmm, maybe she went home while we were sleeping." Sam continued to lie. "Or she went to get us breakfast."

"Her cars outside."

"Wait, did you open the front door? You know that is dangerous without an adult with you."

"Dad, I just looked out the window. I'm no dummy." Samyra replied causing Mercedes to smile. She couldn't believe Samyra called him Dad again. She wished she could be in the room to see the smile that would definitely be on Sam's face at the moment.

"Oh, okay then maybe she went out for a jog. She's on that crazy health kick still." she heard Sam say then the sound of Samyra giggling for a few seconds before asking yet another question that Sam had to lie about.

"Did she go running in one of your clothes?"

"Uh...I...I don't know...why?"

"She left her clothes here in your room. See." Samyra said as Mercedes sighed. That little girl was so nosy. Things rarely got by her. She prayed Sam had a way to answer this question without sounding obvious that he was lying.

"Maybe she did. Hmm...hey I've got an idea. How about we go get us some breakfast from IHOP and bring it back so that she has something to eat after her run. What do you think?" Sam asked, changing the subject.

"Yes! I love IHOP!" she shouted with excitement.

"Great, then go wash your face and brush your teeth and meet me at the door in ten minutes." Sam said. Mercedes smiled as she leaned against the wall near the door. Seconds later, Sam opened the door and handed her clothes to her. "What would you like from IHOP?"

"Surprise me!" she tiptoed up to kiss him before taking the clothes from him. "You handled that great."

"I tried but she was like a states attorney that had me on the stands." he added before slipping inside of the bathroom and grabbing his toothbrush. "Did you throw up?"

"No, I thought I was going to puke, but I feel fine now. I think my Aunt Flo's coming to town."

"She makes you sick physically before you see her?" Sam asked as he brushed his teeth quickly. Mercedes always loved how he was always so oblivious to certain things. He quickly spat and rinsed out with mouthwash before looking her way. "I'm sure I'll love her when I meet her, if I get to meet her."

"I doubt you want to meet her. Trust me." Mercedes said with a quick giggle then shoving him out of the bathroom. "Hurry up and leave before she comes back in here and see me.

"Why can't we just..."

"Not now, Sam." she replied before closing the door on him again. A few seconds later, she heard him stomping away then the sound of Samyra and him talking before stepping outside. Mercedes grabbed her purse and rummaged through it to pull out her cell phone to check period tracker and to see if she had a tampon to wear. "That explains why I jumped Sam's bone last night." she said to herself as she waited for the app to load her data. Once it was up she couldn't believe what the app was saying. Her period was not due. It was actually past due by more than two weeks. How did she not notice that she missed her period? She quickly shuffled deeper into her purse for a pregnancy test that she had leftover from when she last thought she was pregnant with Puck. She pulled it out and ripped it opened. "This can't be happening to me." she said before sitting on the toilet and peeing on the stick. She placed the cap on the stick then placed it on the edge of the counter as she awaited the results. She tried to recall if she and Sam used a condom the night that they slept together in Memphis. She was sure that they did. "Please God! Please make this negative and I promise I will learn my lesson." Mercedes said out loud before checking the stick for the results.

* * *

 **Hey everybody...are you all still there? I know this update has been a long time coming. I struggled with this chapter for real. That is the only reason why it took so long. I really need to stop writing Samcedes Fanfiction lol...are there others that still write it? I feel like I'm alone. Leave me some suggestions if you can.**

 **Thanks for reviewing and reading. Oh and side note: Kitty is gone for good. She will no longer be a threat to Samcedes or Puckmyra? is that a thing lol.**


	18. Chapter 18

*****THANK YOU FOR READING*****

* * *

"Dad, where are you? Mom's about to bust and she's squeezing the hell out of our hands." Samyra said into the phone. Sam smiled as he listened to Mercedes tell their daughter to watch her mouth. "Sorry Mom!" she replied then turned her focus back to him. "Dad, are you close?"

"Yes, I'm driving as fast as I can legally with your grandma and grandpa." Sam responded before looking over to Mercedes' parents. "We're not too far from the hospital."

"That's what you said thirty minutes ago, Sam." Mama Jones said before sighing and staring out the window. Sam thought it would be best to constantly lie to them hoping it would keep them calm. This was their first time being at the hospital to witness Mercedes give birth in Memphis. They'd miss the last two and Sam promised that he would make sure they made it for the next one. Even though they kept swearing they wouldn't have another child.

"I didn't think that traffic would be this bad. Usually everyone is gone for Christmas." Sam admitted as he turned his attention back to Samyra. "Tell your mom that we are almost there."

"Okay, love you dad."

"Love you too." Sam replied back. It had been five years since the first time Sam heard her say those words and they still melted his heart when he heard her say them. Now that she was a teenager, he didn't hear it very often so when she did it felt like the first time all over again. "I love you so much."

"Okay Dad, chill don't get all emotional on me now. Just hurry up, okay? I think the baby is coming."

"We'll be there." he smiled as he could hear her rolling her eyes at how how sappy he got whenever he heard her say that she loved him. So much had happened since then and one of the bigger changes was that he finally got his family back. It all started on the day he and Samyra went out for IHop while Mercedes hid in the bathroom.

 _Samyra walked into the house in a fit of laughter as she listened to Sam do yet another impression. He felt that he would do the impressions for the rest of his life if it meant that she would continue to laugh and look at him the way she was at that moment. On the ride from IHOP he did about five impressions from characters that she knew to characters that she laughed and still asked who was it. When they reached the house he was in the midst of doing a Bill Cosby impression asking her if she wanted some pudding with her pancakes._

 _"Dad, I have no idea who that is but no to the pudding." she replied with a giggle till they both stopped at the sight of Mercedes standing in front of the door with tears in her eyes. "Mommy? Are you okay?" she asked as she slowly walked over to her mother. Sam remembered standing at the doorway stunned as his eyes fell on the stick that she was trying to hide from Samyra. He slowly closed the door and placed the takeout on the table then without looking at Samyra instructed her to go to her room. "But, mommy's..."_

 _"Just go to your room, please." Sam repeated and sighed as he listen to her mumble that she was always sent to her room when things happened and stomp away. Sam slowly took the containers out of the bag without looking her way. He already knew why she was crying. This was not the time for what this would bring. Although deep down Sam wanted to lift her up and tell her how excited he was, he knew she was not crying out of joy. If that test said that she was pregnant, it meant they would have to put her recording on pause. It meant they wouldn't even have to talk about Memphis right now because there was no way she'd want to do it now._

 _"You know after you left..."_

 _"Mercedes..."_

 _"Let me finish." she said cutting him off with a slight shake of her head and a faint smile on her lips. Sam walked over to where she was and leaned against the couch that she was leaning on and remained quiet. "When you were gone, I was mad at you for a while. I kept most of it all to myself but every once and a while I vented to Kurt and Santana. When I was really upset about you leaving, I told Santana that I would never forgive you and hated your guts. But, Kurt, he knew how we felt for each other so he heard my real feelings for you. One minute I hated you then the next I loved you and kept this hope that you would return to me and everything would be great. I thought that I'd have my life together and we would both go on to have these amazing music careers."_

 _"We still can." Sam said as he placed his hand over hers. She looked over to him with an incredulous smile._

 _"We cannot." she replied as she removed her hand from his and stepped away from him. "My life was put on pause the last time I went through this." she continued then stopped as if she heard herself say something wrong. "I don't regret it now but then...back then...I thought my life was over. I thought, fuck, you let Puckerman get you pregnant. The same Puckerman that you told Quinn that she was dumb for allowing herself to get pregnant by and there I was. Like a big dummy. No future in music. And do you know what I really thought deep down?" she asked then looked over at Sam and shook her head as if she were embarrassed. "I thought there was no way in hell you'd want to be with me now."_

 _"I still would have. I never stopped loving you Mercedes. I don't think anything can make me stop loving you."_

 _"I keep ruining your life with babies." she said as she dropped the test to the ground before covering her face with her hands and sobbing into them. Sam walked over to her, picked up the test and smiled as he read that she was definitely pregnant. He removed her hands from her face and placed a kiss on both of her hands before lifting her chin and kissing her softly._

 _"Are you crazy? i don't think you're ruining my life at all. You have been blessing me. If anything, I've been ruining your life." he sighed as she closed her eyes and shook her head. "If you never met me, you would have been as big as Beyonce right now. And I keep coming around..." he paused as they both fell silent. "I'm here now and I don't plan on going anywhere. We can make this work."_

 _"How? Sam? We're nowhere near done recording and a baby will just delay things."_

 _"Why does it have to delay it? You're still able to sing. I'll talk to Brody and work out something." Sam remembered trying to think of ways to make her feel better. "You don't have to give up the dream. We don't have to give up the dream. I found an art school in Memphis for Samyra and Brody will work with us. I know he will." Sam smiled and kissed her forehead before making a promise he would soon break. "We get through this pregnancy together, record a phenomenal album, move to Memphis and I promise this will be our last child, okay?" he waited for to respond but continued to talk as she smiled. "Remember we agreed on baby Samyra and Baby Chord. After that we are done making babies."_

 _"What about baby August?" she asked with a grin tugging at the side of her lips as Sam sighed a sigh of relief then shook his head._

 _"No more babies. I promise." Sam said._

Sam kept his end of the bargain with relocating to Memphis with a pregnant Mercedes and Samyra at the end of the school year. They continued to record her album and toured a bit till Mercedes went into labor with baby Chord, canceling out the remaining part of the tour. The following year, they got married and Mercedes became pregnant again. She completed another album, this time with Sam and as if fate had it written she went into labor at the tail end of the tour giving birth to baby August. By that year, Mercedes was deemed the pregnant singer because every year she released an album she was pregnant on the album cover. This year, she wasn't able to go on tour as the baby came just in time for Christmas and Sam promised he'd have her parents there to witness the birth of the baby he claimed would be the last one. Although he loved every one of his kids, he was praying that this would be the last time he got Mercedes pregnant as he finally made it to the hospital.

"We gotta rush." Sam said as he parked the car and followed them into the hospital.

* * *

Mercedes felt as if she'd been in labor for days but it had only been a few hours. She looked around the room and tried to smile through the pain as everyone tried to avoid holding her hands. Santana and Kurt flew in the previous night and were bickering on who would be the godmother this time, whereas Samyra sat on the corner on her phone. Stacy and Stevie volunteered to watch the babies, so every one she cared about was here except for Sam and her parents. She prayed the baby didn't come out before Sam could be back with her parents. Sam wasn't there to see Samyra come into the world but her parents were there and they weren't there for the birth of Chord and August but Sam was. She wanted all three of them to be there. She knew in her heart that this was going to be the last time she was pregnant. She already told the doctor that she wanted her tubes tied and fried. She couldn't remember the last time she was able to see her feet without kicking them up on a chair.

"Look you can be godfather and I'll be the godmother as I was for Samyra." Santana stated.

"You do know that as godparents you're volunteering to take her children if something were to happen to her right?"

"Yeah and your point is what?" Santana asked as she shrugged him off. "Look, better yet, I'll let you be the godmother next year when she has the next baby."

"Oh hell to the no!" Mercedes exclaimed as she tried to sit up. "This is the..."

"The last baby...yeah yeah yeah we know. You said that last time." Kurt interrupted as he rolled his eyes. "Diva, at this point, I don't even think it's up to you. We might have to talk to Sam."

"Last year I didn't say that was the last time, did I?"

"I think Kurtsie is right, Mercedes. You ever heard of using a C-O-N-D-O..."

"Aunty Snixx, I know how to spell and read, ya know." Samyra said without looking up from her cell phone.

"Dammit! When did she become a teenager that knew how to spell?" Santana asked before walking over to Mercedes and forgetfully placing her hand near Mercedes. She immediately took that opportunity to hold on to Santana's hand and giving it a firm squeeze.

"Ow...ow...ow...another one is coming." Mercedes grunted as she squeezed harder.

"Oh shit! Let go!" she said as she tried to pull her hand away. "You've been through this before you should not be putting us through this kind of hell still!" she added as she managed to pull her hand away.

"Sorry. I'm sorry." Mercedes apologized and decided to squeeze the pillow instead. Santana was right. This was the fourth time she was doing this and she should in fact be used to this but unfortunately each pregnancy was different. Her pregnancy with Chord was possibly the best pregnancy she's ever had. She had no nausea, no swelling in her ankles and none of that emotional craziness that she experienced with Samyra and August. The labor with Chord was not as easy as August's but she was sick the last trimester of August's. Even through all of that, neither prepared her for the craziness that was for this pregnancy. She was sick from day one and placed on bed rest on the last trimester. The baby was supposed to be due in January but here she was on Christmas day and in labor.

"Mom! Mom! Your Christmas single is number one on the billboard charts!" Samyra shouted as she ran over to show her mother. Mercedes loved how Samyra was her biggest fan. She always kept up with it all even though Mercedes told her to focus on her own work.

"If I wasn't in pain I would join you in celebration but I have a basketball coming out of me with either your brother or your first ever sister."

"I hope it's a sister."

"We have to have a party once you're up for it, bestie." Kurt said with smile as he peeked over Samyra's shoulder to see her phone. "I will take care of the festivities as I did for the Grammy award party on your first album, and your wedding."

"I volunteer to help 'cause the last party was way too prissy for my liking."

"Sorry Uncle Kurt, I think Aunty Snixx is right." Samyra said shocking Kurt as he placed his hand on his chest. "I said sorry, Uncle."

"Yes, you did but that didn't make it hurt any less. Thought you'd be on my side since I got you to meet with that cartoon guy at Comic Con in September."

"He's not just some cartoon guy. That was The creator of one of the hottest anime's this year. He created the..."

"Yeah yeah, calm your little thong diapers. Let the grown ups talk now." Santana said as she slightly pushed Samyra out of the way. "So let's start planning this thing. I think my mom will make the cake this year. The one you ordered that year was dry A.F."

"Can you guys wait till I am done having the baby before..." she stopped mid sentence as another contraction came through more intense than the previous ones. "Call the doctor. I think it's time." she grunted. "Myra, call your dad! Tell him to hurry!" she thought back to the last time she had to tell Samyra to rush Sam, back when she was pregnant with Chord and in the delivery room.

 _They'd been living in Tennessee for only a few months. She was still dealing with Puckerman trying to wedge his way in because he felt he was still Samyra's true father. He called them incessantly and was almost the cause of them not relocating to Memphis. Then he found out that she was pregnant for Sam once again and decided to fall back. She wasn't sure what really made Puck back off but that night when she held baby Chord in her hands, Sam handed Mercedes her phone with Puckerman on the other end. She took the phone wondering if he was going to give her a hard time but when he congratulated her she breathed a sigh of relief._

 _"Noah, hey." she said into the phone as she handed the baby to Sam._

 _"I just called to congratulate you on your new baby. I spoke to Sam and uh...I'm happy for you two."_

 _"Oh really? That's nice of you, Puckerman." she replied as they both fell silent._

 _"I'm sorry..." they both said at the same time then stopped. "You can go ahead." they said simultaneously before laughing and falling silent once again. "I'll go ahead."_

 _"No, let me go first. If you don't mind." Puck said. She fell silent wondering what could he possibly say after everything they'd been through together. Most of it she had to say was her fault. She never should have dated Puckerman. If she had just dealt with Sam leaving the right way they wouldn't have ever dated. "Since you left, I know I gave you a hard time with Samyra. It was hard for me to let go. I loved her as if she were my own. I thought she was my child but honestly, deep down when I saw her at the hospital I had a feeling that she wasn't. I just didn't want to admit to myself that you and Sam had sex and that I was the one to take your virginity." he continued as Mercedes listened intently hoping he'd move over the subject of how she lied to everyone about her virginity. "After speaking to Quinn some more, she helped me realize that I latched on to Samyra because deep down I really wanted Beth back in my life."_

 _"Puck, I know...and I'm sorry that I wasn't honest with you. I really thought you were the father but I should have been honest about losing my virginity to Sam. It might have helped a bit a long the way. I never meant to make things like this between you and Samyra."_

 _"No, this is the right way. I was complicating things trying to be her father too when I really just wanted my own daughter back." he replied then sighed. "And I think, I've gotten her back."_

 _"What do you mean?" Mercedes asked as she tried not to lose focus on what Puck was about to say as she looked at Sam and Samyra coo at the new baby._

 _"I found Beth."_

 _"Seriously? Is that legal?"_

 _"Yes...no...well kind of...Quinn helped me find a loop hole. She found Ms. Corcoran in New York and I relocated here and sort of bumped into her. We've been dating for a few months and she's okay with me telling Beth that I am her real father." Mercedes could hear the happiness in his voice. He was definitely a different Puck. He seemed a bit more mature._

 _"I am so happy for you, Noah." she replied genuinely. "So, uh, do you want to talk to Samyra? Say goodbye or something?"_

 _"You know, I've thought about that and decided that I would rather write her a letter. I don't want to take away from the joy of today by telling her goodbye right now. I got the address from Sam, so I will send the letter later." he responded. "Congratulations again and good luck with your album."_

 _"Thank you, Puck." she said before hanging up the phone and smiling as she watched Samyra looking down at baby Chord in the small crib. Sam looked at her and smiled before coming over and kissing her forehead._

 _"You were amazing, baby." he kissed her forehead again then reached in his pocket and removed a small box. "I've been thinking it's high time that we finally make this the Evans' family. What do you think?" he asked as he pop opened the box. She remembered staring at the box in shock as a tear fell from her eyes. Behind him Samyra stood with a wide grin as she waited for her mother to respond. "Mercedes Jones, will you marry me or do I need to take this back to the pawn shop?"_

 _"Sam Evans, you are crazy." she said with a smile before quickly taking the ring and placing it on her finger. "Of course I'll marry you silly!" she remembered kissing him till Samyra was grossed out and causing them to laugh. They got married a year later only for her to be pregnant once again. Mercedes decided to hyphenate her name and all the children had hyphenated names as well, including Samyra._

Mercedes felt the baby pushing its way out of her and though she wished she could hold off the pushing, the doctor told her that it was time to push. She hated that Sam wasn't there yet with her parents. He promised that he'd be there with her parents. When August was born, his parents were there to witness it and since that moment she knew she had to have another baby. Sam's father had finally came around. He was still a major jerk but he was tolerable now. She still dealt with him from afar but at least he stopped being as ignorant as he was the first time she met him. Sam's mother gave him an ultimatum to get a job or leave and for some reason that made him finally be the man Sam said he used to be before he lost his job. Stevie quit stripping and joined Sam with producing her album and Stacy became a teacher at the art school that Samyra attended. Whenever she needed a sitter, Stacy was ready and willing to step up to the plate. Their life in Memphis was perfect but she was surrounded by Sam's family and just needed a bit of her in Memphis.

"Where is Sam?" Mercedes asked as she grunted and pushed once more. "I cant have this baby without him."

"Oh yes, you can." the doctor stated as she peeked up at Mercedes with a smile on her face. "It's quite funny. Although we need the man to get pregnant we do not need the man for the baby to arrive."

"Shut up! Shut up! Someone shut her up!" Mercedes shouted as she pushed and glared at the doctor. She needed Sam and her parents there. She didn't care what kind of facts her doctor came up with at this point. "Call your dad, Myra!"

"I'm calling but he's not answering. I keep getting his voicemail." Samyra shouted back. "Dad, if you don't get here quick Mom's going to be pissed!" she said into the phone before hanging up and looking at her mom. "Mom, are you sure you want me to stay in here?"

"Yes, stay here." Mercedes said as watched Samyra come over then stop.

"Oh, naw Mom, I am not holding your hand. I love you but nope." she said then stepped back just as the door swung opened with Sam running in with a bouquet of flowers, balloons, a huge teddy bear and his parents following with huge smiles on their faces.

"You stopped for flowers? YOU STOPPED FOR FREAKING FLOWERS?" Mercedes asked as she glared at Sam then looked over at her parents. "Hey Mom! Hey Dad! I'm so happy you guys made it." she then turned to look at Sam again. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU STOPPED FOR FLOWERS!"

"Baby girl, give the man a break. He got us here safely to see this baby come in to the world." her father said causing Sam to smile. Mercedes knew Sam meant well but she really couldn't believe she didn't think Sam wouldn't stop for flowers. He's always came with gifts the day the babies were born.

"I'm sorry, Sam." she said as Sam placed the flowers and balloons down before dropping the teddy bear then taking her hand. "The flowers are beautiful baby."

"I'm sorry, baby. I tried to get here as fast as I could, but I'm here now. Let's get her out of there. What do ya say?"

"What makes you think it's a girl?" Mercedes asked as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I just have a feeling." Sam replied as she began to push again. Throughout the pregnancy Sam never said which gender he thought they were having. After Samyra, the two following babies were both boys and it was starting to seem as if boys were all that they would get. Samyra was asking for a baby sister every time only to find out it was a boy at the hospital. She was going to be excited that she finally was getting what she wanted.

"Alright now people. Give us some space. The baby is on its way out." the doctor said. "Alright Mercedes, give us a few good pushes and the baby will be here." she advised as Mercedes continued to push. She held onto Sam's hand and grunted as hard as she could. The pressure was unbearable and it seemed that she would never get used to giving birth. Thankfully it would be the last birth she would ever experience.

"You got this, babe." Sam said as Mercedes gave one last push causing the baby the finally come out completely wailing louder than every other child she'd had. "You did it baby! She's here!"

"Merry Christmas! It's a girl!" the doctor announced then handing Sam the scissor to cut between the clamps on the umbilical cord. A few seconds later the nurse quickly took the baby away to be cleansed before placing her on Mercedes chest. The baby was still wailing as Mercedes smiled down at the little girl. "Have you decided on a name?"

"I was thinking, Mariah Jones-Evans. She has the lungs for the name, don't you think?" she asked as she looked around the room. Everyone came closer to look at the new Jones-Evans in the family.

"So Mrs. Evans, should I reserve a room for next year?" the doctor said with a smile causing Mercedes to glare at her.

"This is the last baby! We are done!" Sam and Mercedes said causing everyone to laugh. Mercedes was happy with her children and her life at this point and she had everything that she needed now. Who would ask for anything more?

* * *

 **Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. So yeah this was supposed to be released on Christmas but yeah you know Life Goes on lol. Thank you for those that stuck around. I didn't update as fast as I normally did on this story and cut out a couple things that I felt were fillers. I hope you all enjoyed the story. And as Mercedes and Sam said no more babies...Im saying no more Samcedes stories. I have milked the hell out of these two. I do have another story that I will be writing but I don't know if I will post it on here. Either way, I will be done with Fanfiction...no seriously...I mean it...stop saying you don't believe me grrrrr!**

 **Anywho, yeah I made her pregnant. Pregnancies don't give a crap if you got your life together. If u bumpin uglies then you might get preggo lol. In this situation, Samcedes can't win lol but they made it work for them. This time they didn't let being pregnant stop them.**

 **Thanks again for reading and reviewing. You all are the best. Have a safe New Year!**


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